Flint Town takes a hard look at a failed city
Even over a year later, it’s frust-rating to hear Americans defend their vote for the current president. At the time, they knew nothing of Russian interference, of course.
Some refused see through his blatant rhetoric or their misguided hatred of his opponent. Some were simply single-issue voters willing follow their party to oblivion in the name of abortion or guns or religion.
Many still defend him, especially here. He continues to be inescapable.
Flint Town, a new documentary series found on Netflix, should have very little to do with Donald Trump. The series spends a year imbedded with the police department of Flint, Michigan, a city that has long been immune to the effects of national politicians.
Democrat or Republican, Flint has continued to deteriorate without much help. It’s the poster city for the failure of both public and private investment. Flint’s water crisis continues unabated and the city continues to be used as a pawn in political games.
Since the documentary was filmed between December of 2015 and 2016, the presidential campaign was sure to play a part. Truth be told, the election is a very small part of a wide-ranging series that focuses on a variety of issues, some specific to Flint, others nationwide. Nevertheless, that small part highlights just how good the series is.
While there is frustration of hearing the same arguments from the officers you’ve heard from angry family members around the dinner table, there is also a grudging understanding of how the officers arrived at their decision (although it’s interesting to note that the Trump/Clinton supporters among the officers were divided strictly along racial lines).
That’s where the series shines—through showing a variety of perspectives on real problems without judgement or commentary. There are many cities in the U.S., particularly in the Rust Belt, that might be considered lost. Gary, Indiana. Reading, Pennsylvania. Youngstown, Ohio.
But Flint, Michigan has long been understood to be the worst. Michael Moore’s Roger and Me highlighted the struggles of the city way back in 1989 and nothing has improved. To the contrary, the city has gotten worse.
The water crisis is one of the worst disasters in American history, where poor financial decisions by inept leaders led to the poisoning of an entire population. Flint is unquestionably the poorest city in the U.S., and is regularly included in lists of the most violent. The entire budget of the city is run on a shoestring.
Public safety is no different. In a city of 100,000 individuals, Flint has only 98 police officers. One police officer for every 1000 people. Long response times, constant calls, and no follow up or solved cases is the norm. The department is overworked and understaffed, to be sure.
Yet, for reasons that are hard to fathom, each officer is unequivocally dedicated to their city. Flint Town is full of stories of real people struggling to keep their homes and improve the lives of their families, all while getting deliveries of bottled water to drink, cook with, and bathe in.
The series is, of course, pro-police. In an area like Flint, it’s hard not to be. But the series isn’t afraid to ask hard questions about race, about tactics, about politics. The officers are not single-minded on any issues. The humanity of the participants, from the politicians to the officers to the civilians, is on display. Honesty is a byproduct of systemic failure. Those that are dealing with the fallout have no time to hedge. Each issue is discussed from a variety of sides and no answer is given more credence than any other.
What is obvious, of course, is that Flint needs help. It has needed help for decades. It’s a problem that everyone sees and no one addresses.
We are the world’s richest country, with the largest number of billionaires in the world. Apple and Amazon could solve the water problem with their reserves. Think what a marriage of public and private investment could do. That nothing has happened is shameful.
Flint Town is a series that looks unflinchingly at a serious problem and offers no solutions. Political leanings aside, we can all agree that Flint is our collective responsibility.