...and not a drop to drink: this past week ABC News ran a story on its World News program about the plight of residents in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Forty of the county’s residents, according to the report, are not afforded the availability of running water. The county’s residents can access high speed internet, cell phones, and the like, but something so rudimentary as running water seems to be a luxury. Ludicrous? Incredible? Well, I have some other, more basic, words in mind: shameful, for instance. Disgraceful also applies. Nonetheless, the story is true. I spoke with Gail Riddick, a Sunflower County realtor, and she confirmed the facts of ABC’s report.
It seems that Mississippi has various water authorities that are charged with providing the infrastructure that provides residents with running water. These authorities appear to be autonomous and, as such, hold sway when it comes to the where’s and when’s. Of course, this infrastructure costs money to establish and money is hard to come by right now, regardless of the specific administration. But times haven’t always been this difficult and the aforementioned residents have been lacking operative spigots for the past six years!
Even the USDA has failed to deliver any substantive assistance. They’ve recommended that the residents find an existing water authority and convince it to extend the existing infrastructure. Well, hell, if they could do that, why would they have bothered with the USDA? I don’t have specific demographics, but feel that its safe to say that the preponderance of the affected residents are black and poor. It would be easy to say that, if it were not for these two identifiers, water would be flowing freely. It would also be somewhat off target.
Despite their race and economic status, these folks are caught up in the swirling storm of unintended consequences. Somewhere, someone decided the creation of water authorities was the best way to ensure water service to all the residents of Mississippi. And maybe (hopefully) that was a good idea. Loose ends are unavoidable, though, and our friends in Sunflower County are the quintessential loose end. Since their numbers are reasonably small and they possess no political or financial clout, it is easy to place their concerns on a very small back burner.
There are, however, champions for such small, disenfranchised groups and I can’t help but wonder where they are. How about the Reverends Jackson (Jesse) and Sharpton (Al)? I know they’re busy with Michael Jackson’s family, but wouldn’t this involvement prove to be more personally rewarding? Did you know that B.B. King was born in Sunflower County? And Archie Manning? Yes, indeed. They are both famous sons and while they may contribute in other ways and for other causes, is there anything more basic than getting a glass of water from the kitchen sink?
I’ve done my share of traveling and would be the first to admit that ignorant, backward, uncaring rednecks enjoy no geographic borders. On the other hand, Mississippians tend to be painted with this broad brush and are sensitive to such a portrayal of their population. Unfortunately, cases such as this serve only to reinforce the negative perception of those within the Magnolia state.
I’m the last one to encourage my readers to forward my pieces, but I’d like to make this an exception and encourage both of you (!) to forward these thoughts on to any and all that might read them. We live in the twenty-first century and to think that something as simple as running water is being withheld from anyone for simple financial reasons is inexcusable. What with stimulus funds floating around out there and other philanthropic grants, I can find no reasons other than lack of political will or grass roots activism to explain why this problem has gone on for so long. Who knows: maybe we can help make a small part of the world a better (and wetter) place.
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