Former NBA great Rasheed Wallace stopped by the new Inside the NBA segment, “Area 21,” on Thursday, and host Kevin Garnett gave him the floor to talk about the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Mich. We’ve seen extensive news reports, viral social media images and videos, celebrities and music artists raising money and donating bottled water, and President Obama even visited and gave a speech after he was inspired by a letter from “Little Miss Flint.”
But the crisis continues, with some government officials charged with “misconduct” and tampering with evidence, while children continue to suffer from illnesses. Wallace has been an outspoken critic of the government’s handling and media’s coverage of Flint, or lack thereof, as he previously wrote a stunning essay about the realities of the Flint crisis. On “Area 21,” he reminded everyone that this issue is far from over.
You wouldn’t even think that it’s part of the United States if you went up there and looked at it. It looks like a third world country, bro. You might have 15 or 20 houses on a block, and only, like, two of them are occupied. It’s either boarded up homes, vacant lots… it’s nasty, man. It’s disgusting.
There are people still up there, even though the governor sent money for help, that was months ago and the water’s still messed up, bro.
Just imagine – how much you use water? When you wake up in the morning, what you do? Brush your mouth. Wash your grill.
Garnett pointed out in response that “everyone’s gonna be affected by water,” and that’s the blunt truth of the issue. People in Flint are without the one thing they need most, and so Wallace and others have been alleviating their troubles by bringing clean water and other supplies to them, especially anything that can help the children.
Wallace, like many others, still puts the blame directly on Michigan governor Rick Snyder, who is currently fighting a judge’s order to provide homes that are without water filters with four cases of bottled water per week. As Wallace concluded on “Area 21,” this is still far from over.
