The City of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, is in crisis. Its 150,000 residents lack access to safe drinking water. Many have not had enough water to bathe or flush their toilets. Those with enough water pressure are being instructed to shower with their mouths closed. Public schools have been closed.
The immediate crisis was brought about by severe flooding, which caused a water treatment plant to fail. But the problems with Jackson’s water supply date back decades.
The integration of public schools in the 1960s prompted an exodus of affluent whites from Jackson, eroding the city’s economic resources. Jackson’s declining economic fortunes also prompted the departure of middle-class Blacks, causing an overall population decline. The city went from over 200,000 people in 1980 to less than 150,000 people today. More than a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. Mississippi is the poorest state in the nation, but Jackson is even poorer than the state as a whole. Per capita income is just $21,906.
But while the city’s population and tax base shrunk, it still has 114 square miles of aging water infrastructure to maintain. The state, dominated by Republicans, has been
— source popular.info | Judd Legum | Sep 6, 2022