Pensacola, Florida Thinks Poor Black People Should Live in a Stinky Neighborhood

Something is stinky in the city of Pensacola. Actually, that something has been stinking up the joint for decades. The Escambia County Utilities Authority has had a water treatment plant in the downtown area for as long as I can remember. In fact, one of the most interesting field trips I ever went on was down to the water treatment plant. Fascinating, but incredibly smelly. What does the area surrounding the ECUA treatment plant smell like? Well, think about what your reaction would to be coming across a perfume made of the scent of skunk, rotten eggs and sulfur and then multiply the offensiveness quotient tenfold. In other words, this area smells really, really bad. No wonder then that most of the housing in this area is dominated by low-cost shotgun shacks owned by poor African-Americans. Oh sure, there have been calls to move the treatment plant to a less populous area of the county, but, well, priorities are priorities, after all.

Funny thing happened in Escambia County and Pensacola recently. About a year ago there was a vote to pump a ridiculous amount of money into building a baseball stadium downtown (despite the fact that the town has proven again and again it has no real interest in supporting a minor league team in any sport for more than a couple of years) and, you know, just generally making the downtown area more upscale and enticing to business investment. In other words, the area that is most subject to the horrific smell emanating from the ECUA treatment plant will soon be Pensacola's number one tourist destination outside of the beaches which, alas, aren't really actually in Pensacola. The same neighborhood that now are populated by minorities with very little money will soon be bought up-some already have been-and torn down in order to build upscale condos and housing and other little goodies intended to lure business to spend money downtown. And would you care to take a guess about what move our county leaders who most assuredly care about all residents and not just those with vast sums of money available for campaign contributions almost immediately put into action?

Yes, now, suddenly, after so many years of not being able to locate the financing available for such a move, the funds have finally been found that will facilitate a quick and efficient transfer of this longtime stinky little landmark of Pensacola. After all, poor black people have a far greater ability to acclimate to the foul stench of a water treatment plant that well-off white Republicans, right? You may be wondering how ECUA managed to come up with these funds that they were unable to raise for so many decades. Ah, that one is easy. The garbage and sewage and water rates of all citizens will be raised. Could they have raised them twenty years ago and saved the poor residents twenty years of breathing difficulties? Of course. But, well, you know.