Water investigations said to test Biden racial equity pledge

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A congressional ally says President Joe Biden’s commitment to racial equity is being tested by federal investigations into public spending on a failing Mississippi water system. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson spoke at a meeting sponsored by the NAACP in the state’s capital city of Jackson. Most of Jackson lost running water for several days in late summer. The EPA and two congressional committees are investigating whether the Republican-run state has directed federal money away from Jackson instead of toward it. The meeting Monday night was in the same church where Biden told a congregation in 2020 that he would help people who had been marginalized, isolated and oppressed.