In the Midwestern United States, two communities within a day’s drive of each other tell an important story.

Both communities are rural, marginalized, and often forgotten despite decades of resilience. One is a historic black community where 44 percent of the residents live below the US poverty line. The other community is in an American Indian Nation where poverty rates reach 53 percent. Both have basic infrastructure: all buildings are connected by miles of pipe which carry away human waste and carry in water to residents.

Yet, in the black community, people note: “We don’t drink the water here. We buy that at the store.” Three young girls play in the yard of their mobile home, while a wet well overflows with human feces down the road. Without adequate water and sewage systems, businesses can’t develop here– the closest place to buy any food, or water, is miles away at a gas station.

In the American Indian Nation, the story is a little different. Much of their system is newly constructed and generally well maintained. They haven’t experienced notable back-ups in years. The residents, and the tourists, drink the water without any complaints. In this town, which is the largest in the Nation, there’s a gas station, a grocery store, a casino resort, and a few restaurants.

How did this American Indian Nation build such strong infrastructure? One major reason is that these Nations have a support system for doing so.

This support system consists of two primary components. First, a subset of the federal Indian Health Service provides technical assistance to Native Nations across the United States. A certified civil engineer guides and trains tribal employees on how to best operate their waste water and water systems. The IHS also financially assists communities so that they can secure the funds to build and maintain their systems. Second, the US EPA works government-to-government with tribes and provides technical and managerial assistance. For example, when it comes to water, this means that EPA provides lab training to tribal employees so that they can effectively test water to make sure that the water is safe for consumption.

This support system for Native Nations is largely rooted in the federal trust responsibility between the US government and Native Nations, which holds the US federal government legally responsible for protecting tribal treaty rights, lands, assets, and resources . For centuries, Native Nations have been fighting for these protections, and while there is still a lot of work to be done, these laws and treaties have established systems of support for Nations to rebuild themselves. “The generally accepted premise of government responsibility to Native Americans is based upon the destruction of Native American civilization and the poverty and disease which followed in its wake,” says Holly T. Kuschell, professor of law at University of Michigan.

But these systems of support do not exist for rural black communities. Even though they have experienced generations of systematic racism rooted in slavery and the attempted destruction of African culture, these communities are expected to develop infrastructure without such support. They are expected to employ highly-trained operators and secure funding themselves. If their water quality does not meet federal standards, communities will receive a letter stating that they are in violation rather than a helping hand to guide them in the right direction.

We need better support black rural communities that are struggling to build and maintain the basic infrastructure their communities need. The precedent already exists with support for Native Nations, and while these efforts could use improvement, we can use them as a framework for action to support predominately black rural communities. Moving forward, we can make strides to establish these systems of support through the following actions:

1. Throughout the United States, we need to recognize that many rural communities, largely communities of color, are still working to build and rebuild their public infrastructure. Too often, individuals make generalizations by saying, “in the US, you can turn a tap and get clean water.” But this is simply not true, and we need to stop pretending it is.

2. At the same time, we need to call on federal and non-profit organizations to be more intentional about who gets funding and technical assistance– they can’t be colorblind. USDA Rural Development provides over 1.5 billion dollars in loans and grants to support the waste water and water systems of rural communities each year. Further, only a few organizations, like Rural Community Assistance Partnership, provide technical assistance to communities in need. However, the only requirement for a community to receive funding or assistance is that they must be classified as rural. We need to call on governmental agencies and organizations to provide more intentional financial and technical support to rural black communities in the US.

3. Further, establishing systems of support for basic infrastructure is a step forward, but we also need to shift perspectives. Today, many people in the US are quick to blame rural communities of color for poverty, crime, and poor infrastructure without recognizing the history of injustice that has led to these circumstances. Instead, it is important to see the other side of the coin. These rural communities of color have persevered through years of discrimination and racial exodus, and it is time we support their visions, hear their voices, recognize their resilience.