Rep. Rashida Tlaib said “environmental racism” is to blame for pollution in Detroit, Michigan.
“Environmental racism is what this is and it should be called out that way,” tweeted the first-term Michigan Democrat. “We deserve clean air. We deserve clean water. We deserve to live. We deserve better than doing nothing.”
Tlaib, 43, is a frequent critic of President Trump and promised to “impeach the motherf—er” when she was elected. Tlaib also posted a celebratory Instagram video before voting to impeach Trump on two articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December.
Tlaib made the statement in response to an article by The Guardian calling Detroit “the blackest city in the US.”
“People don’t realize that the average life expectancy of someone living in Detroit and someone living in the suburbs is a difference of 10 or 15 years,” said Michelle Martinez, coordinator of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition.
Detroit has elected a Democratic mayor every term for the previous 68 years after Jerome Cavanagh replaced Republican Mayor Louis Miriani in 1962.
Environmental racism is what this is and it should be called out that way.
We deserve clean air.
We deserve clean water.
We deserve to live.
We deserve better than doing nothing. #13thDistrictStrong #WeHavetheRighttoBreathe https://t.co/fgPD7AwBdM— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 9, 2020
