Krugman writes: "Donald Trump is still claiming that 'inner-city crime is reaching record levels,' promising to save African-Americans from the 'slaughter.' In fact, this urban apocalypse is a figment of his imagination; urban crime is actually at historically low levels. But he’s not the kind of guy to care about another 'Pants on Fire' verdict from PolitiFact."
Residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex, where the soil is contaminated with staggering levels of lead. (photo: Alyssa Schukar/NYT)
Black Lead Matters
02 September 16
onald Trump is still claiming that “inner-city crime is reaching record levels,” promising to save African-Americans from the “slaughter.” In fact, this urban apocalypse is a figment of his imagination; urban crime is actually at historically low levels. But he’s not the kind of guy to care about another “Pants on Fire” verdict from PolitiFact.
Yet some things are, of course, far from fine in our cities, and there is a lot we should be doing to help black communities. We could, for example, stop pumping lead into their children’s blood.
You may think that I’m talking about the water crisis in Flint, Mich., which justifiably caused national outrage early this year, only to fade from the headlines. But Flint was just an extreme example of a much bigger problem. And it’s a problem that should be part of our political debate: Like it or not, poisoning kids is a partisan issue.
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