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In my latest story, I explore how water infrastructure in California's Central Valley remains tainted by the legacy of Jim Crow. This story is about water, but it's also about the enduring legacy of racism. Please give it a read. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/us/water-racism-california.html
I've done several stories this year about the lack of access to drinking water in California. More than 300 community water systems in the state do not meet safety requirements. An estimated one million Californians are exposed to unsafe water each year. (You read that right.)
Those are shocking numbers. And research shows that low income communities of color are disproportionately affected. And this extends far beyond California; it's a problem nationally, where more than two million do not have access to potable water.
Earlier this year I wrote about farmworker communities where the people who grow our food, in a region powered by massive, sophisticated water/irrigation infrastructure, don't have clean water at home. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/us/california-central-valley-tainted-water.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fjose-a.-del-real&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection
Next, I dove into the issues at the Sativa Water District in Los Angeles County, which the LAT and other news orgs did a fabulous job covering in 2018. What I found in my reporting was that the issues there went far beyond what anyone expected. I also found...
some very significant regulatory gaps that made Sativa possible. I was told by state water board sources that there could be as many as 1,000 water systems in similar condition. But the state has no way of knowing until the systems are *already failing*. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/the-crisis-lurking-in-californians-taps-how-1000-water-systems-may-be-at-risk.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fjose-a.-del-real&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection
As I was reporting on these water inequities, people kept mentioning towns that were once primarily African American. I thought that was very interesting, because I didn't know there were many black farmworkers in California.
Mark Arax wrote about so-called "black okies" in the LAT in the early 2000s. It’s amazing work. I wanted to follow up now with an eye toward water infrastructure itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/us/water-racism-california.html
Here's the history I learned: Amid a vast migration during the early 20th century, tens of thousands of black people came to California’s farm country from far-off states in the Cotton Belt and the Dust Bowl. And as in other parts of the US, black migrants were met with Jim Crow
Often, the only places black families could settle were on arid acres on the outskirts of cultivated farmland — places like Teviston, the all-black colony where Bertha Mae Beavers, 90, raised 12 children in “a two-bedroom shack” with no bathrooms or running water.
It was precisely the lack of water which made it possible for black people to buy property and homes in places like Teviston. Nobody else wanted to live there.
“That’s why these communities exist,” said Michael Eissinger, a lecturer in history at Fresno City College.
“That’s why these communities exist,” said Michael Eissinger, a lecturer in history at Fresno City College.
Please read the piece to learn more. I'd be especially grateful because it's the day after thanksgiving. I'd love for this piece to have a chance! https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/us/water-racism-california.html
And if you're interested in learning about the broader reporting on this, and how I've approached the work, here's a Times Insider I wrote on the topic as well: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/reader-center/california-drinking-water-crisis.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fjose-a.-del-real&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection
