Youth Energy Squad
Contextualizing the Coronavirus Pandemic in the History of Water in Detroit
Context: In Michigan and Detroit especially, the Coronavirus pandemic has shed new light on the issue of water access and water shutoffs in households. Public health experts have highlighted the importance of washing hands with soap and water in order to kill the virus and avoid becoming ill. However, many households and community organizers questioned how the City and other policymakers could expect individuals to follow orders to remain at homes that do not have the water needed to effectively kill the virus.
Before the pandemic, water access had already been a hot-button issue in Detroit for decades. During the summer of 2016, the Detroit Water and Sewage Department started a campaign of water shutoffs, turning off the water to households behind on their bills. 28,000 households were targeted for shutoffs. The Department planned to shut off about 800 households a week.
Goals: Age Group: High School
Critical Thinking
Decision Making
Learning Detroit History
Supplies: Time:1 hour
Internet access is helpful
Instructions:
The following are 4 sets of competing statements about those 2016 shutoffs. Read each statement carefully and then decide which statement you agree with most and explain your response. Then watch the linked video below those questions and share your opinion on questions 5 and 6 about the current pandemic.
1)“At the end of the day, everybody's gotta pay their water bill," said Alexis Wiley, chief of staff for the mayor, Mike Duggan. "People in Detroit are paying higher rates because there are so many people who aren't paying," she said.
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Detroit resident Rochelle McCaskill gets a $672 monthly disability check and spends $600 on rent, she said, leaving her unable to pay the city’s water bills. She suffers from MRSA, a contagious infection that is a serious public health concern and requires frequent bathing. She says, “They need a category for those of us who cannot pay.” Her water was shut off that summer.
Which viewpoint do you side most closely with? Why?
2)“Disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights,” United Nations (international peace-keeping organization with 193 member countries) officials wrote. They recommended new policies be adopted to ensure that everyone gets access to the necessary amount of water for consumption and sanitation, about 26 gallons per day.
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Sheila Cockrel, former Detroit City Council woman said, “People can go down to the river and pick up a bucket of water. That’s your right.”
Which viewpoint do you side most closely with? Why?
3)The water shutoffs seem to affect almost exclusively black Americans living in low-income housing. U.N. official Ms. Farha says, "The denial of access to a sufficient quantity of water ... (threatens) the right [to not] be discriminated against... The water shutoffs are having a "disproportionate impact on low-income African Americans in Detroit."
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If you don't pay your water bill the company can and should turn you off, no matter who you are or your racial background. Which viewpoint do you side most closely with? Why?
4)If water supply is a commodity - a product that can be bought or sold - the answer is simple though harsh -- pay up or go without. (From water economist Daniel J. Van Abs,https://www.njspotlight.com/2015/05/15-05-21-opinion-is-water-supply-a-commodity-a-service-or-a-right/)
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If water is a public service, then service should be guaranteed. The costs could be handled like many other public services (such as police or courts), through the property tax, with local governments paying the water utility to provide the service. (Van Abs)
Which viewpoint do you side most closely with? Why?
Please watch the following video from Democracy Now about the current state of water shutoffs in Detroit during the pandemic and respond to the questions below: https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/13/detroit_michigan_water_shut_offs
5. Does the Coronavirus pandemic change your responses to the earlier statements at all?
6. Should the Coronavirus pandemic change how policymakers handle water shut offs in Detroit households? If so, how?