Once again, “environmental racism” is being used as an excuse to avoid too heavily criticizing Democrats for the terrible governance of a city they have run for decades.
This time, the city is Ramapo, New York. All 13 school buildings in the East Ramapo Central School District received failing grades on a survey of building conditions, and the district’s staff and 9,200 K-12 students have been told not to drink the tap water in any school buildings.
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According to the New York Civil Liberties Union and 24 other organizations, this debacle is “reminiscent of the environmental racism seen in Flint, Michigan.” The schools are “attended primarily by black and Latino students,” according to the New York Times. According to the letter from the NYCLU and others, “Much like Flint, the lead in the water at East Ramapo public schools was discovered seven years ago, yet it remains unaddressed.” The New York Times also details several other issues with the schools over the past few years.
But, again, this is not the vague, shapeless specter of “environmental racism.” This is a direct result of incompetent or careless governance, which can only be laid at the feet of the Democratic politicians who run the city or state. You can take your pick: The town’s current supervisor is Michael Specht, who took office in 2018. The man in charge in 2016 was Christopher St. Lawrence, who served from 2000 to 2016. He was convicted of securities and wire fraud and conspiracy over the financing of the town’s baseball stadium.
Both Specht and St. Lawrence are Democrats. The NYCLU letter demands that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and state officials step in and take over the school district. Hochul is also a Democrat, as is former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was in charge when lead was first discovered in the district’s water. The environment isn’t being racist. This is not some societal failure that can be put on the shoulders of all of us for our “systemically racist” country. Wherever you want to look, this is a failure of elected officials, all of whom happen to be Democrats.
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The same was true in Flint, which was run by Democrats since 1975 and which the Environmental Protection Agency warned before its 2014 water crisis about the issues with its water supply. It was true for Jackson, Mississippi, whose Democratic leadership repeatedly failed to maintain the city’s water system. It’s also true for the cities where black people are being disproportionately murdered in shootings.
This is not “environmental” or “structural” or “institutional” racism. These are failures of Democratic governance. Whether you think the trend is noteworthy or not, that is where the blame in each incident lies, not with the faceless concept of “racism” that puts the blame on society every time a Democrat does a poor job.