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Chapter 24
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in What the Eyes Don’t See, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Environmental Injustice
Truth vs. Corruption
Community Values and Collective Duty
The American Dream
Family, Tradition, and Strength
Summary
Analysis
In February of 2016, while Mona was at work in her office at the clinic, four Michigan state police officers in earpieces and dark suits barged in: they told her that the governor was here for a visit. They swept her office with metal detectors and other “security gizmos,” and then Rick Snyder entered with a “posse” including the Lieutenant Governor and MDHHS director Nick Lyon. The governor apologized to Mona—but by this point, Mona only cared about actions, not empty apologies.
The surprise visit from the governor of Michigan illustrates the fact that the state government was doing too little too late. Mona had tried desperately to secure transparency and open dialogue with state officials—but they rejected her and attacked her. By the time of Snyder’s visit, she was disillusioned and had lost much of her faith in the government’s investment in Flint.
Themes
As Snyder went on, though, Mona could see genuine remorse in his eyes. He wanted to discuss the new state budget and his long-term plans for Flint. As he shared the details of the budget with her, Mona was shocked to see that almost all of her nutrition, health, and education initiatives totaling upward of $100 million were included in the new budget.
Even though Snyder played a massive and terrible role in the water crisis, his resolve to funnel money into Flint in order to try to repair the community’s foundation speaks to the power of community action and solidarity.
Themes
When Governor Snyder asked Mona if she’d attend the press conference at which he was announcing the new budget the following week, Mona declined. She was going to be testifying about the Flint water crisis before Congress. She knew that Snyder’s support had plummeted in the last several months. But he had only himself to blame, having ignored the crisis and instead tried to engineer a coverup in the name of saving money. Many people in Michigan and throughout the U.S. knew that the water crisis would never have happened in a predominantly white city. “If it were happening in another country,” wrote director Michael Moore in a Time magazine article, “we’d call it an ethnic cleansing.”
No matter how contrite the leaders who permitted the Flint crisis to happen were, nothing could erase the fact that what they’d done was tantamount to “ethnic cleansing.” By ignoring the needs of a community of low-income, minority individuals, the government was essentially sanctioning the deaths of thousands of Americans—people whose lives the government felt weren’t worth the effort it would take to remedy the crisis.
Themes
The new Flint water task force was made up of five men, and so Mona called it the “Five Guys Committee.” She was skeptical that the committee would hold up their duty to Flint—and pleasantly surprised when, in March of 2016, the Five Guys released a detailed, comprehensive report about what had happened in Flint (and who was responsible). The report clearly stated that race had played a role in this egregious environmental crisis and kept it going long after it should’ve been stopped.
By connecting the severity of the crisis to Flint’s history of structural racism, the Five Guys made sure that the Flint crisis would be remembered as one of the most egregious examples of contemporary environmental injustice. Stating that racism played a role in what happened in Flint sent a message to local and state governments across the country: that America’s history of racism and environmental injustice couldn’t be tolerated any longer.
Themes
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White America was surprised by the crisis in Flint—but for Black Americans, who could easily spot the connection between Flint’s racist history and its present tragedy, there was nothing surprising at all about the government’s negligence. Mona, too, was able to have a unique perspective on the crisis because of her cultural history: she knew that most people in government don’t wake up in the morning planning on poisoning thousands of people, but that the desire to deflect blame and admit fault can make people do (and tolerate) terrible things.
This passage again illustrates that America is—and always has been—a deeply unequal place. There are “two Americas”—and white Americans, especially those of financial privilege, aren’t aware of the many roadblocks on the path to the American Dream. But Black Americans and immigrants like Mona and her family know, both from their experiences in the U.S. and from their families’ stories of corruption and violence abroad, that institutions can’t always be trusted and that the members of marginalized communities must take care of one another.
Themes
In June of 2016, the three state budget supplements the governor proposed passed; Flint was due to receive about $200 million in aid. The package wouldn’t pass in Congress for another six months, but Mona had, by that point, learned that a life of advocacy is a slow one. The small victories and the crushing disappointments accrue over time, and all one can do is press onward.
Mona’s work had produced real, quantifiable results. Her steadfast commitment to advocacy and action—even though it was a slow, difficult battle—ultimately made a real difference in her community.
Themes
In March of 2016, Miguel Del Toral came to town. His back was bothering him, and so Mona, LeAnne Walters, and Marc Edwards met him at his hotel. Mona was at last able to meet one of her heroes.
Mona’s journey brought her into contact—and into community—with so many people she admired and looked up to as advocates of justice and equality.
Themes
In April, a lot was happening in Flint—people at the MDEQ like Brad Wurfel and Dan Wyant were losing their jobs or resigning, and there were many criminal charges that had been filed against state officials in the MDEQ and the MDHHS who’d participated in the coverup. Nick Lyon and Eden Wells would later be charged, too, with involuntary manslaughter for their failure to act in the crisis. Flint city officials like Natasha Henderson and Howard Croft, were charged with felonies and removed from their posts. Mona was heartened by the fact that people were being held accountable for their neglect—but she vowed again to remain focused only on the children of Flint.
This passage illustrates the consequences that many of the people involved in burying the truth about the Flint water crisis eventually faced. Without the work of Mona and her team, it’s possible that these individuals would have continued lying as long as they could have. This further underscores the need for dedicated community-minded collective action. Without solidarity and the pursuit of justice, the people who turned a blind eye to Flint’s suffering might never have answered for their actions.
Themes
Mona looks back on a time when she ran into Marc in D.C.—they were both there for a meeting of the EPA drinking water committee at which the existing Lead and Copper Rule would be up for discussion. On the way to the hearing, a woman who recognized Marc stopped him, introduced herself as a D.C. mother and fellow activist, and thanked him for his activism in the D.C. water crisis. Mona was reminded of her own patients’ parents in Flint who would no doubt be questioning their children’s well-being for years to come.
This passage shows that while Marc and Mona, together with the rest of their extended team, did a lot of important work in beginning a healing process in Flint, not even their hard work would be able to erase the long-lasting scars of environmental justice and structural racism. The work to truly heal a community in need must be concentrated and ongoing.
Themes
After a successful hearing, Marc took Mona aside and complimented her on how good she was at advocating for her community. The compliment meant a lot to Mona, but she knew that she couldn’t have done the things she did for Flint without Marc and the rest of her team. Later, Marc would give Mona a necklace made from a slice of lead pipe from a D.C. home, encased in gold.
Marc and Mona’s support of one another’s work illustrates the goodness and change that can come from community action and solidarity. These two very different people came together to fight for a place in need and succeeded in bringing many important truths to light.
Themes
At lunch with Elin in April of 2016, Mona noticed that her friend’s manner was lighter and easier. Eight months had passed since the barbecue when Elin had first told Mona about the water in Flint. In those months, Mona and Elin had both transformed and had experiences they’d never imagined. Elin told Mona that she felt grateful that her career had coincided with what was happening in their city in the way it did—there was a point, after all, to all the setbacks Elin had faced during her time at the EPA.
In this passage, it becomes clear that Elin, too, is a part of Mona’s “family”—Elin is, after all, a person Mona has known most of her life, and a person whose values of justice and activism helped shape Mona into the person she is today. Mona and Elin drew strength from one another—and from their long friendship—throughout their fight to restore clean water to Flint.
Themes
Mona, too, began thinking about how her ability to participate in advocacy and activism in the crisis was largely a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Her ancestors’ resilience and her family’s progressive values had readied her for a fight—even a fight that never should have happened in the first place. Mona was just a piece in a much larger puzzle.
This passage demonstrates Mona’s unique view of her role in the Flint water crisis. She sees herself almost as a conduit for the Flint community’s larger concerns—the activists, parents, and community leaders on the ground began the fight, and Mona just happened to be a person in a position with enough resources and power to bring the truth to light. Mona is humble in this passage as she recalls her experiences, citing the strong foundation her family gave her over the course of many generations as the reason she was able to summon the courage to fight the powers that be.
Themes
When Mona received the Michigan Environmental Council’s Distinguished Service Award, she got to talk with Bunyan Byrant—a renowned environmental justice pioneer. She thanked Byrant for paving the way for people like her. Mona always knew that throughout the Flint crisis, she was standing “on the shoulders of giants” like Marc, Alice Hamilton, John Snow, and Bryant himself.
This illustrates Mona’s true sense of community and collectivism. Though she played an important role in bringing the crisis to light, she remained humble throughout her entire fight and always paid homage to the social justice and public health pioneers who paved the way for her.
Themes
