MICHAEL GOLDBERG, Associated Press/Report for America
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — When John Tierre launched a restaurant in Jackson’s derelict Farrish Street Historic District, he wanted to promote the neighborhood as an economically independent cultural hub for Black Mississippi. I was fascinated by the past and its potential to be a forerunner of its time. new prosperity.
This week, he sat on the sun-drenched, empty patio of Johnny T’s Bistro and Blues, lamenting all the business it’s lost to polluted water running down its pipes. He’s just enough to put pressure on—and the resurrection he and others have envisioned is highly questionable.
“There are very few lunches,” Thiers told The Associated Press. “They are probably moving their operations to suburbs where there are no water problems.”
Torrential rains and flooding of the Pearl River in late August exacerbated the problem at one of Jackson’s two water treatment plants, lowering pressure throughout the city and residents already ordering boiling water due to poor water quality. rice field.
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Officials said Saturday that services to most customers had been restored. But the water crisis is exacerbating the financial burden caused by ongoing labor shortages and high inflation. And the flow of consumer money from Jackson and his crumbling infrastructure to the city’s outskirts will hit Black-owned businesses the hardest, owners say.
Another black entrepreneur to take a hit is 59-year-old Bobby Fairley. He lived in Jackson all his life and owns his hair design at Magic Hands on the south side of the city.
She canceled five appointments on Wednesday because she needed high water pressure to wash the treatment off her clients’ hair. She also had to buy water to shampoo her hair to fit her schedule as best she could. She is losing money when her customers don’t come.
“It’s a big burden,” she said. “I can’t afford that. I can’t afford that at all.”
Jackson can’t afford to solve the water problem.As the population dwindles as a result of largely white exodus to the suburbs about a decade after the public schools were consolidated in 1970, the tax base has shrunk in recent decades. has been eroded over time. The city is now over 80% black and 25% poor.
Some say the uncertainty faced by black companies fits into a pattern of adversity stemming from both natural disasters and policy decisions.
Marty John Purim, who owns Marshall’s Music and Bookstore, a block away from Johnny, said, “The idea that people should be able to attend public schools and access public places without being abused. It’s a punishment for Jackson because it was accepted.” Mr. T. “As a result, some people fled to the suburbs.”
According to a 2018 Congressional Budget Office report, Jackson’s longstanding water problems date back to the 1970s, when federal spending on water utilities peaked.
“For decades, this was a malignant rather than benign attack, and it was intentional,” Primm said.
Political leaders don’t always have the same ideas. Democratic Mayor Chokwe Antal Lumumba of Jackson blames the water problem on decades of deferred maintenance, while Republican Gov. Tate Reeves blames inadequate management at the city level. is said to be the cause.
Last Monday, the governor held a press conference about the crisis and the mayor was not invited. He said it was clear that he did not.
“The lack of cooperation speaks to the continued punishment Jackson has to endure,” she said.
Under normal circumstances, Labor Day weekend is a busy time at Johnny T’s. During college football season, enthusiastic Jackson State fans watch games on the bistro’s flat-screen TVs or leave the stadium after home games. But this weekend, many patrons were busy stocking up on bottled water or boiling tap water to cook.
Despite a sharp drop in income, Thiers’ expenses increased. He spends $300-500 a day on ice and bottled water. He brings his staff in a few hours earlier than usual so he can boil the water, wash the dishes, and stack the extra cans of soda.
All told, Tierre estimates he’s making over $3,500 more per week. Customers pay the price.
“We have to pass some of this on to the consumer,” Thiers said. “Now your Coke is $3 for him and no more refills.”
At a water station in South Jackson this week, local resident Lisa Jones brought an empty paint bucket for her family to take a bath. She said she felt trapped in a city where infrastructure was crumbling, Ms Jones said.
“Everybody’s stuck right now. Nobody can go to Madison, Flowood, Canton and all the rest,” she said, naming three more wealthy suburbs. “If we could, it would be a dark spectacle. Houses would be boarded up by street, by neighborhood.”
Michael Goldberg is a member of the Associated Press/Reports for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover hidden issues. Follow him on his Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
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