January 2015

In April 2014, state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley switched Flint's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to cut costs, without adding corrosion inhibitors. The corrosive water leached lead from aging pipes into homes across the majority-Black city. State officials, including Governor Rick Snyder's office, suppressed and dismissed evidence of contamination through 2015. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha's pediatric study confirmed elevated blood lead levels in children by September 2015. An estimated 6,000–12,000 children were exposed to lead. Eighteen officials were charged; most charges were later dropped or dismissed after legal disputes. Infrastructure replacement remained incomplete a decade later.

By 2015, the U.S. incarcerated 2.3 million people — the largest prison population in the world and 25% of the global total despite having 5% of world population. Black Americans were incarcerated at 5.1 times the rate of white Americans. One in three Black men born in 2001 could expect to be incarcerated in their lifetime. The War on Drugs, mandatory minimum sentences, and three-strikes laws enacted in the 1980s–1990s drove the rise. Although drug use rates are similar across racial groups, Black Americans were 3.73 times more likely than white Americans to be arrested for marijuana possession in 2018.

In April 2014, a state-appointed emergency manager switched Flint's water source to the corrosive Flint River without adding corrosion inhibitors, causing lead to leach from aging pipes. State officials suppressed evidence of contamination. An estimated 6,000-12,000 children were exposed to lead. Eighteen officials were charged; most charges were later dropped. Infrastructure replacement remained incomplete a decade later. Flint is majority Black.

By 2015, the U.S. incarcerated 2.3 million people — 25% of the global total despite having 5% of world population. Black Americans were incarcerated at 5.1 times the rate of white Americans. One in three Black men born in 2001 could expect to be incarcerated in their lifetime. Black Americans were 3.73 times more likely than white Americans to be arrested for marijuana possession in 2018 despite similar use rates.

Chicago completed demolition of Cabrini-Green in 2011 and Robert Taylor Homes by 2007. Nationwide, HOPE VI-funded demolitions displaced over 100,000 predominantly Black households. Promises of one-for-one replacement were broken; original residents failed income and background screening for mixed-income replacements. The program translated as systematic displacement of poor Black communities from desirable urban land.