Water pollution is a national issue.
Today, many Navajo have to choose between risking cancer or traveling many miles to access water.
Within the Appalachian region, coal companies have also disposed of waste in ways that have poisoned numerous towns’ water supplies.
What these places all have in common is the people that live there are not powerful enough to have their concerns taken seriously.
West Virginia is the third-poorest state in the country; the Navajo also face high rates of poverty and oppression along racial lines.
Similarly, Flint has a large black population.
Companies are driven to exploit land and labor because of the profit that it brings them.
Though poverty exists because of systemic factors, many people justify its existence by saying that poor people deserve to be poor because they have not worked hard enough — along with many other negative stereotypes.
Because of their negative attitudes towards impoverished people, individuals in power ignore their concerns.
Finally, racism and capitalism are deeply intertwined.