What if I told you that a city with a large African-American population and low tax base had water emanating the tap that was brown in color and appeared undrinkable? Many would offer that I'm referring to Flint, Mich., but in this case I happen to be specifically discussing St. Joseph, La.
Despite the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals consistently declaring the water is "safe" to drink, the brown color simply fails the eye test.
When National Public Radio asked Dr. Jimmy Guidry, Louisiana's state health officer, if he would drink St. Joseph's water, he responded: "It's not that I don't think it's safe from the standpoint that we measure the bacteria, we measure all the chemicals that make it safe. But when you look at it, it looks like sludge," he says. "It doesn't look like something you want to put in your body."
As Yogi Berra might offer, Guidry's remarks sound like déjà vu all over again. There is something unsettling when government officials are uncomfortable using a service that they provide to others. Perhaps it's even more unsettling when such practices are accepted by the general public, assuming of course they are not the recipients, in this case, of sub-standard water.
According to Guidry, the problem lies with St. Joseph's aging system. "Like most small water systems, when you don't have many customers, it's very expensive and it's not affordable." Adding, "But they have to do so because right now there's risk of worse things than color."
Why is it that "they have to do so?" Who should be held to a standard to drink something, as Guidry describes, that "doesn't look like something you want to put in your body?"
Guidry's remarks reflect a cogent response, provided that one not live in an area where the water they use is brown.
Is the aging water system in St. Joseph's isolated? Who's to say that other communities in Louisiana and elsewhere do not experience similar situations? It's certainly something that should be discussed on the presidential campaign trail.
Before we can "Make America Great Again" or "Feel the Bern," can we not agree that everyone, regardless of income, ought to be afforded the luxury of not playing Russian roulette when they decide to get a glass of water? What has occurred in Flint has been well-documented, but the mere fact that another community has similar problems could suggest it's time for a thorough analysis of water systems throughout the country, particularly in low-income communities.
Though President Barack Obama may be relegated to "lame duck" status, the examples in Flint and St. Joseph require moral authority from the Oval Office. Here is where the bully pulpit is warranted.
Investment in infrastructure, though not something that will titillate audiences into frenzy, is fundamental to sustaining a nation. Moreover, a crumbling infrastructure, which we are systematically witnessing in America with our roads, bridges and water, is a nation in decline. And tax cuts ad nauseam can't solve this problem.
What we are witnessing in Flint, St. Joseph and potentially elsewhere is a human-rights issue that belies any standard set forth by an industrialized nation. If there are communities that cannot afford to repair aging water systems, should those of us who possess the luxury to trust the water that comes from our tap merely shrug, dismissively declaring, "Oh well?"
What are we saying if ensuring clean water is cost-prohibitive? This may be the ultimate "penny-wise and pound-foolish" scenario. Any long overdue repairs to an aging water system are just the beginning. What are the long-term costs from drinking bad water?
This could produce irreparable harm to future generations. Who knows how much that will cost taxpayers?
When the emphasis is placed on money over people, then drinking substandard water is understandable. It is a social tax we impose on those languishing in poverty. Physically they are present, but their humanity remains painfully invisible. Their humanity is buried under the weight of political interests.
It is inconceivable that Guidry would have offered a similar response had the brown-water crisis sprang from one of Louisiana's more affluent communities. Guidry might respond by offering that the more affluent communities have a larger tax base to mitigate such problems.
Is that all that's required to drink clean water in America?