On the topic of the Flint water crisis that has been going on in the small poverty stricken town of Flint, Michigan many believe that the incident was definitely not an accident and I happen to be one of the many. Contrary to the popular belief that this is a fairly recent issue, the water crisis has not been going on for a couple of months; the crisis has been going on for over a year. With the help of social media sites like Twitter (which is how I found out about the topic), the crisis was brought to national attention around the beginning of 2016. The topic interests me because it deals with a major crisis which is causing serious health issues in a small town that is apparently overlooked in society. Flint's residents are mainly minority citizens and the majority of the residents live in or below the poverty level. Both of these reasons give strong support to the fact that the incident was an intentional accident as the entire city of Flint is falling victim to institutional prejudice and discrimination.

To give you a basic timeline of the current crisis, Flint, Michigan is currently dealing with a water crisis that has been brewing for years. It all started when in a "money saving" effort, the city switched from Detroit's water supply to the Flint River around April 2014. In due time (around fall 2015) it was discovered that the number of children with above-average lead levels in their blood had complete doubled. In October, in an effort to make everything right again the city reconnected to Detroit's water system, however, it had been too late. Flint River water turns out to be highly, highly corrosive to the lead pipes used in some of the city. It is unclear how long the pipes will continue to produce unsafe levels of lead into the city's tap water supply, even though Flint River water no longer flows through them. Although experts say the water is currently safe for bathing, it is still undrinkable. A small group of researchers sampled water in 271 Flint homes found some samples containing lead levels high enough to meet EPA toxic waste standards. At 27 ppb (parts per billion), Flint's water is five times as high as the level of concern. This could also lead to a number of health issues including high blood pressure and kidney damage. The highest level found in the 217 homes that were sampled by VA Tech researches was a whopping 158 parts per billion, however, the highest level found in Flint period was 13,000 ppb. Recently the National Guard was sent out to help distribute drinking water and other supplies to Flint residents and although it has not been clearly linked to the water, there have been 87 cases of Legionnaire's Disease, 10 fatal.

In the article "The Long Shadow of Flint's Water Crisis" by Andis Robeznieks, he discusses how Flint and Michigan have been dealing with lead levels for decades. The crisis started around 1989, when the head of automotive company, General Motors, discovered that implementing lead into gasoline reduced engine noise in automobiles. This eventually caused serious health problems in people surrounding the research area especially children. Around April of 2014, in an attempt to save money (as it really needed it) the city disconnected from Detroit's water system. The water was provided from Lake Huron; however, soon after the switch many residents complained about the new water supply and demanded to have the water at their homes tested. All in all, a big suspicion of the government there having no interest in the dangers the crisis is the fact that funding for lead screening in Michigan had been cut down by millions. Another suspicion is the fact that governments have cut their lead reduction efforts, practically turning their backs on the residents and leaving those with aging infrastructure to deal with incredibly high lead levels like those living in Flint. My interests in this article are that the article draws from numerous sources and brings in other examples of cities and lead exposure. For example, Robeznieks brings up how D.C. attempted to remove lead service lines, but only made the situation worse according to Brad Wurfel. The author also brought children's health and early exposure to lead into the picture because that is one of the biggest problems of the crisis. "The state acted only after water samples taken from three Flint schools tested positive for high amounts of lead." (Robeznieks 1) Another source which brings pathos into the equation is "The consequences of lead poisoning are mind-boggling," said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a physician-researcher at Hurley Children's Hospital in Flint who conducted studies on local children after Flint switched its water supply. "At 5 years old, they may need to be in a special education class. At 10, they may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. At 15, they're probably involved with the criminal justice system." (Robeznieks 1). This gets into the next Hanna-Attisha's own article. Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, as well as the rest of her team conducted a study to test elevated pediatric blood levels in children below 5 years of age in 2013 and again after the water change in 2015 to reveal that levels changed from 2.4% to as high as 6.6%. The source is credible as the authors are all authorized to work in this field as the work with Hurley Children's Hospital and the Michigan State University. It was published at the beginning of February of this year. The source is suitable as the content really shows how children were affected and will appeal to pathos. 

In the article "The Toxic Tap" by Josh Sanburn, Sean Gregory, and Alexandra Sifferlin, the authors go into how many residents noticed the color of their water changed soon after the switch of their water supply to the Flint River. Many of the residents complained about the color and smell of the water for months. Soon, the majority of residents began to complain about healthcare issues including rashes, spots, hair loss, and children coming down with anemia. The article also goes into politics and how the mayor told the people to "relax" and how a city council decision to go back to the Lake Huron water supply of Detroit was overturned by someone appointed by the governor. Politics continue as presidential candidates and their views of the crisis are brought into view. Bernie Sanders who seems to be exclusively for the people thought that the governor should resign as most of the residents also want. Hillary Clinton brought the matter of race and poverty into view as the majority of Flint is African American and lives in poverty. She alluded to how "if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it there would've been action" (Page 34). To be completely honest, in America tragedies that happen in more wealthy areas are more reported and "cared about" than those occurring in less wealthy and or poor areas. The Flint water crisis has been going on for a while, however it has just been brought to national attention this year. As of recently, progress towards ending the crisis has been made as Governor Snyder summoned the National Guard to hand out water and President Obama designated Flint $5 million in aid. This article would not be the only source that pulls politics and their views on the crisis into play. The Young Turks posted a video called Democratic Candidates Furious Over Flint Water Crisis. In this video the reporters discuss, as well as show clips, of democratic candidates such as Hillary Clinton talking about the water crisis and how it is sad and brings up wealth and power. The article is credible as it is a news source with bias being against Governor Snyder. This video is suitable for my argument as it brings in actual politics in higher power than those of the city. Clinton's statement on how this topic would be much more of a crisis if it happened in a wealthy suburban area brings in the next topic: race. 

In the article "Confronting Whiteness in Flint" by Crecory Shafer discusses just what the title states: the topic of discrimination. Crecory Shafer in this article addresses the topic of race and privilege in not only Flint, Michigan but America as well as it is obvious that a situation like the current water crisis would never happen in a place of wealth. The article comes from a credible source and may have bias as being on the side of the incident was not an incident because of wealth and power. Racism still exists in America and it can be seen in different forms every day. There is a presidential candidate that even wants to build a literal wall between two countries because he says one race is full of rapists and murderers. There have been countless African Americans that have went to some of his rallies and have been thrown out because HIS supporters were being rowdy. In the article, African American students of Flint express how they really feel. One states: "What makes me mad is the way they make us look -- like these poor, incompetent people in Flint who made this happen," another says. "We didn't do anything wrong. We were poisoned" (Shafer 23). Another student says: "The only reason our Republican governor is even responding to this is because the national news got a hold to it" (Shafer 23). Most of the students have the same mindset that I do regarding the situation because just like when Katrina hit Louisiana, no one seemed to care. This article has to be one of my strongest since it legitimately says what I have been saying all along about race and how the city government does not care for the residents. The African American teens also bring up the fact that once racial problems hit home, celebrity problems do not matter anymore. 

However, having a celebrity on your side in any situation usually reaps positive results. One of the best types of celebrities a city can have at this sort of time is a professional athlete from the specific place. Michael Rosenberg and sports illustrated cover many controversial stories and this one does not fall short. The article discusses the horrors ongoing in Flint as well as former NFL player C. Hawkins who now coaches there, putting up with the situation as well as helping and looking for additional help. "Troubled Water" is fairly recent as it was published this year and is relevant because of its timing with bias against the officials running the city as everyone feels like they do not really care. The attention retired sports stars receive is tremendous and will definitely help get aid for the city, making this article suitable for the progression of the situation and my argument as well. Courtney Hawkins says "If you walk by, the river stinks ... .The river is nasty looking. Just the-smell-and-the-look test ... a person not being from here would be like, I know good and well they're not talking about hooking up from here." (Page 64). If a river smells bad just while walking past it, why would you even consider drawing DRINKING water from it?

Of course it cannot be legal to deliberately poison an entire city right? In this article from Engineering News Record the topic of the Flint water crisis being an actual crime is discussed. In the article it is exposed that the state-appointed emergency manager decided not to negotiate a short term contact with Detroit which had safe water and decided to take water from Flint River. The title hooks readers in by implying the fact that officials of Flint, Michigan can possibly be getting lawsuits filed against them. Many of the residents residing in Flint have been effected by the water crisis regarding to medical issues they have faced. The biggest problem is the fact that the water has even affected public schools, causing unsafe lead levels easily accessed by young children. Lead does not mix will with children as it can cause permanent brain damage along with many other issues. The article discusses all of the things that happened leading up to the crisis including how the officials ignored the residents' cries for help by claiming the lead levels were not unsafe.

In the article "In Flint, water woes mount" by Elisha Anderson, a lot of information regarding flint's water is discussed. The article begins with the tactic of pathos, allowing readers to sympathize with the residents of Flint, mainly Ariana Hawk who has to microwave water in order to wipe her 2-year-old son's itchy skin. The author achieves this pathos by bringing a child with obvious healthcare issues, living in poverty with his mother and siblings while she does everything she can to take care of him. Hawk goes on to talk about how she cannot afford to buy 20 gallons of water just for one bath and expresses how the people in the community feel as if they get treated like they do not matter. The community feels as if the situation happened to them because they are not in an area of prestige and the government has let the crisis go on too long before even starting to make steps toward ending it. She is a single mother with three children, attends a community college and is currently pregnant. Again, children's healthcare is brought into the limelight with "Kids absorb lead more easily and have been exposed to lead if the drank Flint water since April 2014, health officials said" (Anderson 01a). The author has credibility because she works as a journalist for a credible source (USA Today) with access to very valuable information. 

The question of whether or not Flint's water crisis was a mistake or whether it was done on purpose is still up for debate. On the one hand, why would someone purposely poison water? On the other hand, this crisis happened in a place where a minority is the majority and everyone is poor and already feel as if they do not matter. The topic was not in the news or really known until just recently as most articles pertaining to the topic are fairly new coming in the last 4 months. However, the crisis has been going on since about April 2014. In the sources I found, all agree that the situation is horrible and needs to be fixed. However, the fact of whether it was a mistake or not is either expressed strongly or barely in each article. The perspectives of the articles do not change mine on the topic. Flint, Michigan was poisoned. It is as simple as that because why would anyone pass up a short term contract for SAFE water and decide to draw water from a river that smells bad from a distance? You tell me. The fact of the matter is that Flint, Michigan needs the help of the entire nation no matter what the color of their skin is or how much money they have.

