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."
The Trump administration significantly weakened the Endangered Species Act (ESA) this week, largely gutting its implementation mechanisms to allow for greater economic development in protected habitats. The decision — announced by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior on Monday — was widely condemned by critics who say the revised regulations will hurt biodiversity and wildlife at a most precarious time.
Argentina’s stock market and currency value plummeted this week following a shocking electoral defeat on Sunday for President Mauricio Macri, the nation’s conservative leader.
Markets soared Tuesday morning following the Trump administration's decision to delay and revise its latest round of punitive tariffs against China. The Dow jumped over 400 points while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both rose roughly 2 percent.
The Iowa caucus is still six months away but Democrats are not wasting any time in their effort to return the state to their side of the aisle. Yet the confidence is equally strong within the Republican party.
VineSight, an AI-based start-up, is working to detect misinformation attacks against candidates like Joe Biden or Kamala Harris early during their campaigns.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Aug. 12, 2019.
Hong Kong International Airport came to crippling halt on Monday with thousands of anti-government protesters occupying the airport’s main terminals. Authorities said operations have “been seriously disrupted” and cancelled all flights in and out of the major international hub.
Michael Sonnenshein, managing director of Grayscale, told Cheddar that recent developments in the U.S.-China trade war are proving to be evidence that Bitcoin has emerged as a safe-haven asset.
The company has announced that it is donating 5,000 units of the generic version of Plan B for women in need as part of a collaboration with the nonprofit Power to Decide.
2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls are bringing the gun debate to 165th annual Iowa State Fair.
