Coming from a small rural community, when I heard Catherine Flowers discuss the issues that Lowndes County in Alabama faced, and some of the solutions that people have offered her, I was appalled.
The impact on rural living is something that is well documented when it comes to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. People living in these rural areas have to drive farther to get the items essential for survival; therefore, they find themselves driving much more than people in the city, which means they are larger contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. However, one of the interesting aspects of Catherine Flowers discussion that infuriated me was when she met with a politician who stated that it would be easier to move everyone away from the rural countryside and put them into cities. I found this statement to be truly galling because of the lack of insight into what the lifestyle means to most people living in rural communities. My family has farmed almonds for over 100 years in the Sacramento Valley, and all of what we do is tied to our rural roots. If someone dared to try and remove us from where we have lived for over 100 years, I do not think we would listen and would remain where we were, planted as firmly as our trees.
The other aspect of the talk that I found interesting was the rediscovery of hookworms in the United States. Hookworm was thought to be eliminated with the invention of proper sewage and treatment facilities. Despite that being the claim, it was rebuked when Catherine Flowers went into Lowndes County and discovered that hookworm was able to survive in places where raw sewage was found. The discovery of hookworm is a fascinating juxtaposition of what the United States “claims” and what is happening. When one hears of hookworms, they conjure up images of third world countries that do not have the infrastructure to be able to remove all of their waste. The United States has one of the most expansive and advanced sewage treatment facilities in the world but overlooks the rural communities having the access to them. I thought that the phrase “rural justice” was fitting because of the findings that Catherine Flowers and others discovered shed a light on the way that rural communities are thought about and how they have been left behind cities. What gives me hope for the justice of rural communities are activists like Catherine Flowers who voice their discoveries and refuse to accept the notion that rural communities will remain secondhand citizens.
