Orlowski 1

Katherine Orlowski
Professor H. Louise Bown
English 1050
6 August 2014
Classism and Racism: Root Causes for Detroits Water Wars
Over the course of this summer, the media has had ongoing coverage on a news story
about the city of Detroit and how it has been turning water off on thousands of its residents who
cannot afford to pay their overdue bills. The bankrupt city has been looking for ways to tighten
its purse strings and strongly enforcing what happens to customers who do not pay their water
bills is one way the city is cracking down. At the core of the issue, is the question of whether all
customers are being treated equally or if some are being given preferential treatment because of
who they are (Cwiek; Lukacs; NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Detroit Water Shut Offs are
Discriminatory). Since the city began shutting off water to individual citizens who are past due
on their bills, organizations such as the United Nations and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People have gotten involved in the debate over whether this practice is
ethical or not. The UN argues that a basic human right of access to water is being denied to
Detroits poorest (Cwiek) and the NAACP is concerned that at the root of the issue is the fact
that certain groups of people the poor, African Americans, and individuals are being targeted
(NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Detroit Water Shut Offs are Discriminatory). At first glace, it
is easy to see why many are placing blame on those individuals and businesses who are simply
not paying for their water use. But upon deeper, more critical analysis of the situation, there is a
much larger issue at play. Classism and racism are at the core of the Detroit water wars.
Oppression and privilege play a large part in who is discriminated against in multiple and similar
Orlowski 2
stories across the United States. In cities such as Detroit, the enduring effects of past American
practices of colonialism and slavery and institutionalized racism are still being felt today,
combined with the more modern day practices of corporate cultures squeezing out of the middle
class and the marginalization of the poor. While perhaps not as obvious as in the past, the
Detroit water wars are but one example of the inherent classism and racism that have been
woven into the very fabric of our nations social structure.
Before the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776, it was like India or
the Dominican Republic, just another colony in the British Empire (George and Trimbur 496).
Much as George Orwell wrote about colonial India in his essay Shooting an Elephant, the very
foundation of the U.S. was built upon a system of oppressors and those being oppressed (504).
And these colonial influences linger in the present (George and Trimbur 497). Barack Obama,
in his 2008 Presidential primary speech A More Perfect Union, spoke to these oppressive
influences as well, that so many of the disparities that exist in the African American community
today can be traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the
brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow (479). It is from these past practices of slavery,
oppression, and colonialism that our societys current social structure is derived. The system in
place has been designed to benefit the majority the ancestors of the White oppressors and
marginalize the minorities the ancestors of slaves and other minority groups , giving them an
uneven starting place from which to make their way through life. It is precisely these minority
groups who are facing having their water turned off in Detroit, specifically the large African
American community that resides there.
African Americans have faced legal forms of discrimination for years in unfair housing
and lending practices and exclusion from unions and certain occupations, to name a few (Obama
Orlowski 3
479). In his speech, Obama makes this case for legalized discrimination through appeals to the
listener of numerous facts backed with a measure of pathos. The Detroit water wars are just
another incarnation of these discriminations. When looking at media images of those being
affected most by water shut offs, the majority are African American because they make up the
majority of the poor in Detroit (Cweik; Lukacs; NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Detroit Water
Shut Offs are Discriminatory). It is our history that helps to explain this income gap and
concentrated poverty (Obama 479).
But this is not merely a matter of Black and White. While race does play its part,
corporate culture squeezing out the middle class (Obama 480) plays a big role as well. In
many ways, the issues residents in Detroit are facing are similar to those Jason Berry wrote about
in Cancer Alley: The Poisoning of the American South. The Louisiana state government has
repeatedly shown favoritism towards the oil industry over its poorer individual citizens (316),
much as is the case with the Detroit water utility showing favoritism towards large corporations
over struggling families. In Louisiana, it came down to citizen groups coming together and
filing lawsuits to fight against the discrimination they were facing (Berry, 316). In Detroit, the
NAACP is doing the same, filing a class action lawsuit against the city for what it views as
discriminatory practices (NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Detroit Water Shut Offs are
Discriminatory). Similarly, Steven Greenhouse in his essay Worked Over and Overworked
agrees with a multitude of informative facts, making his arguments more effective. Greenhouse
writes, Corporate Americas growing sway over politics and policy is making it harder for
beleaguered workers to turn to government for help (411). Corporations are enjoying record
profits while lower level workers wages have stagnated (Greenhouse 408). Workers at the
bottom of the totem pole not only lack money, but they often lack basic benefits such as health
Orlowski 4
insurance, retirement plans, and paid sick leave, placing a strain on them financially that those at
the top do not feel (Greenhouse 407). This corporate version of classism in turn makes it more
difficult for these workers to be able to meet basic needs, including water and food. In the
meantime, these poorer people are so far the only customers who have had contractors come to
shut off their water (Lukacs) and corporations, including the city of Detroit itself, have not seen
the same repercussions as individuals who have not paid their past due bills (Cweik).
In addition to the favoritism shown to corporations over individuals in our society, the
marginalization of the poor has also played into the circumstances surrounding the Detroit water
wars. In Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space, Mike Davis speaks of the
steps cities such as Los Angeles have taken to physically separate the poor from the higher
classes, actually building walls designed to quarantine and sequester, and all done under the
guise of safety (290-292). And Louisiana citizens living along Cancer Alley have been
similarly marginalized, providing affordable land for purchase in areas where big industry was
housed (Berry 317). Richard Misrachs photos that accompany Berrys essay provide stark
contrasts between big industry and the communities living in their shadows. For me this
illustrates the realities with which these citizens are faced to live in a way that words could not
quite manage. Fellow classmate Catalina Valdebenito described in our Week 5 Class Discussion
that the pictures also shows signs of a community, but none of its members anywhere to be
seen, which to me demonstrates that a community cannot coexist with heavy industrialization for
very long. Her insights made me look at these images in a new way: a true community spirit
cannot survive where it is forced to coexist with big industry; at some point industry wins out
and overtakes the individuals in the community. It is a visual example of classism at play: the
wealthy corporations are given preferential treatment over the individuals in the community.
Orlowski 5
Similarly, the images of the Detroit water wars that accompany news reports show exactly who
is most being affected by official decisions to cut water off to a large portion of its poor
population, physically separating the citys citizens and marginalizing the poor.
Although at first glance the issues presented in the city of Detroit by its water utility
appear fairly straight forward, with further critical examination and analysis of the historical
treatment of the people who are being affected most by water shut offs, it is apparent that this
issue is based in societal trends that have existed since the birth of our nation. At its core,
colonialism and slavery, institutionalized racism, corporate cultures squeezing out of the middle
class, and the marginalization of the poor have all contributed to the uneven treatment of
Detroits citizens. The various readings from our text book have further contributed to my
understanding of how one group of people can be oppressed and forced into such trying and
difficult circumstances as having to forgo a basic human necessity of clean water, and to do so
with out compassion from fellow citizens or their government. Furthermore, these readings
provide a voice to those perspectives that are typically overlooked, drowned out by the dominant
discourse of the majority. By giving voice and listening to the marginalized, we may gain
insight into the life experiences of those who historically have not and currently do not have
equal access to opportunity and resources.






Orlowski 6
Works Cited
Berry, Jason. Cancer Alley: The Poisoning of the American South. Reading Culture:
Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Eds. Diana George and John
Trimbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 313-318. Print.
Cwiek, Sarah. National Public Radio. National Public Radio, 10 July 2014. Web. 2 August
2014. <http://www.npr.org/2014/07/10/330325100/detroit-shuts-off-water-as-it-tries-to-
collect-millions-in-overdue-bills>.
Davis, Mike. Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space. Reading Culture:
Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Eds. Diana George and John
Trimbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 287-292. Print.
George, Diana and John Trimbur, eds. Living in a Transnational World. Reading Culture:
Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 496-497.
Print.
Greenhouse, Steven. Worked Over and Overworked. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical
Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Eds. Diana George and John Trimbur. Boston: Pearson,
2012. 404-412. Print.
Lukacs, Martin. Detroits Water War: A Tap Shut-Off That Could Impact 300,000 People.
The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media, n.d. Web. 2 August 2014.
<http://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2014/jun/25/detroits-water-war-a-
tap-shut-off-that-could-impact-300000-people>.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Detroit Water Shut Offs are Discriminatory. CBS
Orlowski 7
Detroit. CBS Local Media, 21 July 2014. Web. 2 August 2014.
<http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/07/21/naacp-detroit-water-service-shutoffs-are-racially-
motivated/>.
Obama, Barack. A More Perfect Union. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and
Writing. 8th ed. Eds. Diana George and John Trimbur. Boston: Pearson,
2012. 476-483. Print.
Orwell, George. Shooting an Elephant. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and
Writing. 8th ed. Eds. Diana George and John Trimbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 504-
508. Print.