Professor Hammer isn't afraid of the word racism and freely writes about it's influence in the Flint Water Crisis. Ultimately the country has to change. There is no reason for racism in the USA. These trials are important and while every defendant will plead not guilty and will state they have never been racist, those lies can't stand.
February 19, 2021
By Peter J. Hammer
As the former governor of Michigan (click here) and eight other public officials are indicted for alleged crimes related to the Flint water contamination crisis, Wayne State Law Professor Peter J. Hammer writes that systems of spatial-structural racism underlie the event and must be addressed.
The trauma of the Flint water crisis, one of the greatest preventable humanitarian crises in American history, has never receded from the lives of the residents of Flint, Mich. The return of the crisis in the national news, however, gives us a time to reflect.
A $641 million federal civil class action settlement has been preliminarily approved, ostensibly the law’s best effort to make the victims “whole.” On a different legal front, nine former public officials, including former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), have been indicted on 41 criminal charges.
How should America ultimately understand the legacy of the crisis? A foundational truth is that systems of spatial-structural racism lie at the roots of the Flint water crisis. I provided testimony to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission’s hearings on the role of race in the tragedy.
The commission’s report concluded: “Our review of Flint’s history clearly establishes that past racism played an important role in creating the conditions that allowed the water contamination crisis to occur…. Race, racialization, racism (particularly spatial), and de facto discrimination are the heart and soul of this crisis.” These problems remain unaddressed....
Understand the word complicit. Being involved with others in illegal activity or wrongdoing.
8 June 2020
By Joshua Virasami
To be neutral, (click here) to be passive in a situation,” the historian Howard Zinn tells us, “is to collaborate with whatever is going on.” If the history of black political struggle in the US – something Zinn, a white ex-soldier, actively participated in – teaches us one thing, it is that meaningful political change happens not just when black and brown people take a stand against racism, but when the wider society moves from being neutral to becoming actively anti-racist.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was one of the most formidable organisations in the fight for civil rights. It understood that change occurs when people are moved to action. Students in northern US universities, although sympathetic to the plight of black southerners, remained passive supporters, so the SNCC organised “freedom buses” for students to come and act as observers....
Complicit and racism are commodities that need to come forward in the Flint trials. There was absolutely no one in Lansing interested in the lives of the people of Flint. No one. There were cronies of Snyder that were far more important than the people of Flint. Snyder didn't shirk responsibility to the people of Flint, he actively circumvented their well-being.
All along, (click here) Snyder ducked responsibility, later offering faux regret and ownership for the debacle that’s left thousands of residents sick, depressed, and hopeless. Meanwhile, he’s fought tooth and nail to cut water tax credits to Flint residents; fought a court order for the state to deliver water to people’s doorsteps, appropriate money to fix the tens of thousands of lead and galvanized pipes that need replacement (fortunately, he was forced to settle yesterday to pay for 18,000 new pipes) and, ultimately, to provide the proper medical care that Flint residents need — Medicare for life....
March 28, 2017
By Jordon Chariton
...According to Snyder, (click here) his Emergency Manager, and other state officials, this was all a cost-saving measure in the face of Detroit’s high water prices (Flint was Detroit’s largest customer). The powers-that-be said switching off of Detroit to the Flint River temporarily would save the city money until the privatized KWA Pipeline was ready.
Emails unearthed from April, 2013, show that’s nonsense. In the face of losing its biggest customer, Detroit Water offered Flint an immediate 48% discount, which over 30 years would be 20% cheaper than what Flint would pay to the KWA....
...If you don’t know, there’s active discussion on plans to frack, frack, and frack some more along the path of the KWA pipeline — which would require TONS OF water.
And in looking at some of Snyder’s top donors, a troubling pattern appears: They’re a bunch of MOTHER FRACKERS!
Between Snyder’s initial run for governor in 2010 and today, the head of MPI Research, William Parfet, donated $300,000 to Snyder’s campaigns. Until last year, he was on the Board of Directors for big-agro giant Monsanto (pesky sexual harassment lawsuit may have done him in).
Well, what do you know? Monsanto heavily deploys nitrogen fertilizer, which is primarily made up of natural gas. Hence, the more natural gas produced by fracking, the cheaper nitrogen fertilizer becomes for Monsanto (and the more it can use)....
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Pure, unadulterated quid pro quo. Never one day did Rick Snyder rise to the much needed advocate for the people. Never once. It was all too easy to look the other way and demonize the lazy people of Flint, Michigan that never pay their bills. At no point in time did Snyder live up to this oath of office when it came to Flint.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of this state, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of .......... according to the best of my ability. No other oath, affirmation, or any religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.
Does anyone actually believe the duties of the Governor's office are different for GM and Flint when it comes to a safe water supply? No. Actually, protecting life was suppose to take precedent over protecting engines for a car company.
Never one day did Rick Snyder put the people first when it comes to a majority-black community in Flint.
Never one day.
If this level of corruption is not part of the criminal proceedings then what is going to change the dynamics of racism yet alone respect for all life?
February 18, 2021
Lansing, Mich. — Attorneys for former Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) and eight others facing charges in the Flint water crisis are seeking to speed the production of evidence after a judge said he needs at least four months to inspect grand jury records. The lawyers said Thursday that the delay will hurt the defendants, who “are left to languish under the specter of reputation-destroying criminal charges with virtually no avenue to challenge or assess the allegations.” Genesee County Chief Circuit Judge Duncan Beagle has issued an order governing how he will review and release grand jury testimony and set a status hearing for June 14.
It is a joint plea. All the defendants are working together to end the charges. They are not all equally charged. How is it a judge is expected by all the defendants charged are demanding the very same Grand Jury records? There is a lot wrong here.
Change in the subject. The case about the Whitmer kidnapping is taking a rather odd path. The federal request for records needs to go forward.
February 17, 2021
By Robert Snell
A Grand Rapids federal judge (click here) Tuesday refused to let prosecutors share secret grand jury testimony with state prosecutors who are trying to convict eight men on terrorism charges related to the alleged plot to kidnap and harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker said federal prosecutors failed to justify the need to share the privileged testimony central to a case that has shed light on violent extremism in Michigan.
Is this for real? A judge is blocking evidence to convict terrorists. The new Attorney General nominee, Merrick Garland needs to be seated so these cases can move along with consistency.
The testimony prosecutors wanted to share was not specified in court records. But the request last month coincided with the surprise cooperation of Hartland Township resident Ty Garbin, 25, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy and agreed to help prosecutors — and testify in front of grand juries....
