This interactive map, Muskegon then and now, shows how Muskegon County became one of America’s top 25 most segregated cities. In many ways, one road, or more a division, shapes the entire spatial formation of this city -- education systems, income per household, crime rates, AND environmental injustices.
This is something I need to think about more, however, off the top of my head I imagine there is a pretty big brain drain problem in this area.
This interactive map, Muskegon then and now, shows how Muskegon County became one of America’s top 25 most segregated cities. In many ways, one road, or more a division, shapes the entire spatial formation of this city.
Access to financial capital and resources.
Thinking a little bit about toxic solidarities and the narrative “we are all Flint,” Muskegon resident can feed into this narrative, especially with the recent “comeback” story of the downtown area.
In the 1940s Muskegon was the site of a mass migration of black workers coming to work in the war factories of the town. Like other cities in the region, Muskegon county’s orchestrated housing policies led to a “white flight” within the city and racial segregation. I think we can trace this toxicity with nostalgia here because many people I talk to long for the old days in Muskegon, the days where the town was "thriving." but at what cost?
In my place of Muskegon County there are the material effects of chemical toxicity - exposure to PFAS by the Muskegon County airport, contaminated lakes, etc--and there are the more invisible political toxicities that contribute to the narrative of Muskegon County as a “hot” place in the swing state of Michigan. Symptoms of these political toxicities can be scaled down from conversations and conflicts by elected officials within the area to individual business owners and their display of political preferences to individual voters themselves.
Concentrations of chemical toxicities in Muskegon are relatively spread out, but almost always near water sources. In terms of political toxicities, it’s very easy to see patterns of certain voting blocs in the county. Thinking about how that toxicity is moved is interesting in a place like Muskegon because it’s very easy to stay in your own comfort zone. What might be interesting to look at is the various church communities in Muskegon, certain congregations are widely known to have certain political leanings.
Thinking a little bit about toxic solidarities and the narrative “we are all Flint,” Muskegon resident can feed into this narrative, especially with the recent “comeback” story of the downtown area.
In my place of Muskegon County there are the material effects of chemical toxicity - exposure to PFAS by the Muskegon County airport, contaminated lakes, etc--and there are the more invisible political toxicities that contribute to the narrative of Muskegon County as a “hot” place in the swing state of Michigan. Symptoms of these political toxicities can be scaled down from conversations and conflicts by elected officials within the area to individual business owners and their display of political preferences to individual voters themselves.
