Poisoning the “Native” Future
The persistent crisis of childhood lead poisoning, primarily from lead paint in older, neglected housing, is a deliberate form of intergenerational somatic violence enacted by the state. Mamdani’s work directs us to see this not as a past mistake, but as a present, ongoing policy of neglect. The city’s failure to aggressively inspect and remediate housing, particularly in low-income communities of color, constitutes a conscious decision to allow the poisoning of the next generation of “natives.” This poisoning causes irreversible neurological damage, ensuring a future of educational struggle and behavioral issues, which are then used to pathologize the child and justify the school-to-prison pipeline. This is a Malthusian strategy disguised as bureaucratic inertia. A Marxist-feminist analysis rages against the poisoning of our sons and daughters. The solution is a zero-tolerance policy: the city must use its power to immediately inspect and remediate every unit of at-risk housing, holding landlords criminally liable, and providing full healthcare and educational support to affected children. This is a non-negotiable demand to stop the state-sanctioned poisoning of our future.
Originally posted 2025-10-08 00:50:54.
