Flint, Michigan is currently in the middle of a major water crisis, leaving the town unable to get safe, clean water from its taps, and both politicians and celebrities alike have begun to take notice. But Puff Daddy is taking notice on a potential racist aspect of the problem.
The rapper, real name Sean Combs (formerly known as P. Diddy), posted on Instagram while apparently worked up, because he admitted he was posting without doing his research first! “EVERYONE PLS REPOST THIS!!! MY FELLOW RECORDING ARTIST!!! This is a repost! I don’t know if these facts are true but we need to #WAKEUP AND #WAKETHE****UP INCLUDING MYSELF! Let’s LOOK INTO THIS!!! I will share any information I get you do the same!!!! [sic]” he wrote, along with the hashtags “SpreadTheWordNOW” and “flintmichigan.”
The “facts” in question are in the video, which claims that Flint, Michigan is made up of 60% African Americans, making the water situation a “racial killing” and comparing it to “a version of genocide.” The hashtag calls for the arrest of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who it blames for the water problem after Flint’s water system was changed to that of Detroit.
EVERYONE PLS REPOST THIS!!! MY FELLOW RECORDING ARTIST!!! This is a repost! I don’t know if these facts are true but we need to #WAKEUP AND #WAKETHEFUCKUP INCLUDING MYSELF! Let’s LOOK INTO THIS!!! I will share any information I get you do the same!!!! #SpreadTheWordNOW #flintmichigan !! ! @aquahydrate will be doing a water drive and we need your help!!
While there were those that agreed, many of Puff Daddy’s followers thankfully did not get caught up in a racist fervor, seeing that making this a black/white issue would not solve the water problem faster. Rational comments included, “What happens to the other 43 percent that isn’t black? I’ll wait. Quit playing victim. This is a sad story but it’s not a race story [sic],” and, “I see all the race comments… But i see very FEW ‘SOLUTION’ comments [sic].” Others were also quick to question the rapper on what he was going to do about it, if anything, given his celebrity money and that he should either “put up or shut up,” as the saying goes.
But it isn’t only African American people who are speaking out about the so-called race issue. Hillary Clinton also addressed the issue from a racial standpoint on Twitter, writing, “The children of Flint have been drinking lead-poisoned water for more than a year. That’s absolutely unacceptable,” and including a video noting, like Puff Daddy, that Flint is predominately black and that “the Governor of that state acted as though he didn’t really care,” adding he would have if the problem affected the rich part of Detroit. But again, like everything Hillary Clinton tweets, the majority of comments ignored the more important topic at hand, instead choosing to call her a liar, among other less flattering things, and accuse her, like Puff Daddy, of having the means to do something about it yet doing nothing.
The children of Flint have been drinking lead-poisoned water for more than a year. That’s absolutely unacceptable. https://t.co/nmw6E0dmU8
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 18, 2016
