Flint Water Crisis
Historical context
Flint!
Background on Michigan
People could own homes and cars,
and pay for higher education for their children.
Michigan’s 20th century financial success
was dependent on automobile manufacturing.
Many jobs were accessible to people without college education and provided good pay, benefits, and pensions.
Background on Michigan
- Access to less expensive labor overseas
By the mid-20th century, the industry faced many challenges:
- Weakening of labor unions
- Increased efficiency due to technological advances meant fewer laborers were needed
- New jobs often required technical knowledge acquired through advanced education
- 1970s oil crisis shifted demand toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, but American companies were slow to respond to this shift
Background on Flint, MI
As GM sold fewer and fewer vehicles,
they began closing manufacturing plants
Major manufacturing hub for General Motors
Made many parts used in GM’s vehicles
Led to reduction in the tax base which impacted funding
for municipal government and public schools
Many residents with the means to do so moved away
Decreased tax base further
Like many cities in the early 20th century, Flint was segregated by...
racially restrictive covenants.
Racially restrictive covenants are contract agreements that prohibit the purchase, lease, or occupation of a piece of land by people of a specific race.
On top of the system of
racially restrictive covenants,
the New Deal introduced a system of redlining.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created in 1934 as part of the New Deal to insure private mortgages.
As a result, banks offered mortgages at lower interest rates and smaller down payments,
but only on mortgages backed by the FHA.
When the FHA deemed a neighborhood to be a risky investment, they drew a red line around it on maps.
These redlined neighborhoods were mostly black.
1970s
Movement of Black residents led to blockbusting
& White Flight
1940 Census
Flint is 3rd most racially segregated city in America.
1940 - 1947
Black population doubles, but builders only constructed 25 privately financed new homes in Black communities.
By 1960, the Black population had tripled since 1940.
"Slum clearance" of late 1960s
Plan to clear Black neighborhoods for road construction
& industrial parks
Black population increased from 54, 237 to 66,164
Between 1970 & 1980...
White population decreased from 138,065 to 89,470
By 1980, Flint was 40% Black & most of
the Black population was located in the Northwest
"The 48505 ZIP Code, which covers Northern Flint...
lost 72% of its employment... between 1998 and 2013."
HOLC Maps
Racial Dot Map
