In Maryland, the Montgomery County Council has introduced a resolution deeming racism a public health crisis.
In an interview with Cheddar, councilmember Will Jawando says disparities the black community faces are staggering. Recent social uprisings might have lit the flame under Jawando to introduce the resolution but the issue of racial inequality goes back hundreds of years, he said.
"Racism is the direct result, for 401 years, we've been either property or legally discriminated against for most of that time," Jawando told Cheddar.
In Montgomery County, systemic racism is not limited to just over-assertive and sometimes lethal policing of the black community, he said. It's also running rampant in the healthcare system. As COVID-19 continues to ravage communities of color nationwide, 18 percent of the black population in his county makes up a quarter of the deaths related to the virus.
For Jawando, racism in the Washington DC suburb is simply a reflection of society on a smaller scale.
"If you look at maternal health and childbirth, black women die at three times the rate," he said. "When they come in with problems, often doctors — look at Serena Williams — don't believe that they're sick."
Introducing the resolution, which he expects to pass next week, is a first step for curing the public health crisis in his county, Jawando said, but he hopes the measure is eventually recognized on both the state and federal levels. He also supports other methods of combating racism including the growing call to defund police departments nationwide.
"We shouldn't have stats driven by policing," he explained. "De-escalation, that should be rewarded just as much as we reward arrests and tickets."
Despite uncertainty on who exactly will be in the White House, the Senate in GOP control, and the House in Democratic hands, Wall Street is riding high.
President Trump won support from about 8 in 10 white evangelical Protestant voters, according to the AP VoteCast. But Catholic voters split almost evenly between him and Joe Biden.
Election officials in key battlegrounds are pressing forward with vote counting, two days after Election Day. Democrat Joe Biden is urging patience, while President Donald Trump is pursuing legal options, insisting the processing of ballots should be stopped.
Katie Hobbs, Arizona's Secretary of State, joined Cheddar to discuss the safety of poll workers as President Trump levels accusations at the process and when Americans can expect an update.
Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson joined Cheddar to discuss Trump's attempts to increase doubt in the election process and the state's security protocols that were taken to protect against such attacks.
The Fed announced no new actions after its latest policy meeting but left the door open to provide further assistance in the coming months.
As Democrat Joe Biden inches closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, President Donald Trump’s campaign has put into action the legal strategy the president had signaled for weeks.
Joe Biden has won Michigan and Wisconsin, pushing him closer to 270 Electoral College votes and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path to reelection.
The Trump campaign says it has filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan, laying the groundwork for contesting the outcome in undecided battleground states.
Councilman Ritchie Torres became the first openly gay Black man to win a Congressional seat on Election Day. He will now represent New York's 15th District recently vacated by long-time Congressman José Serrano.
