Is Jackson, Mississippi's poor water infrastructure related to white flight?
A lack of tax revenue due to white flight has made it difficult to finance the upkeep of Jackson, Mississippi’s drinking water and sewage systems.
During the 1990s, the majority Black leadership in Jackson led to a migration of white residents to neighboring communities. In total, nearly 35,000 white residents fled Jackson from 1990 to 2000, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
Following the migration, wealth and job availability took a hit, causing a contraction in tax revenue. Jackson has thus been unable to make long-term investments in water infrastructure, with consequences such as recurrent shutdowns, “boil water” and “don’t use” alerts, a high number of sewer overflows and untreated sewage discharges.
Jackson hopes to utilize funds earmarked for water-related repairs in President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure plan and other federal bills to remediate these and other issues.