Harry Vaslo ft9873

Professor Yongli Zhang

CE 4210

3/9/18

Water @ Wayne: Mapping the Water Crisis: The Dismantling of African American

Neighborhoods in Detroit

On Thursday, March 8th, I attended a Water @ Wayne seminar titled, “Mapping the

Water Crisis: The Dismantling of African American Neighborhoods in Detroit.” The presenter

was Monica Lewis-Patrick, the Cofounder, President, and CEO of We the People of Detroit. The

presentation detailed how austerity policies and policies implemented by Detroit emergency

management contributed to the many issues African Americans have in accessing clean water.

In-depth discussions of the 2013 Detroit bankruptcy and the Flint Water crisis were had, and

statistics visualizing how stunning the water inequality is between African American

communities and white communities. The information that stuck with me the most following the

presentation was how different the water-shutoff policies in Detroit and Flint are in comparison

to the rest of Michigan. Most Michigan municipalities either cannot shut of your water or allow

you to miss multiple payments until a warning is issued. In Flint and Detroit, if you owe just

$150 in water bills, the city can shut off your water within 24 hours.