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."
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
Twitter is denying accusations that it's 'shadow banning' prominent conservatives online, but President Donald Trump is calling for an investigation. Michael Nunez, Mashable's deputy tech editor, explains the allegations and weighs in on their merit.
President Trump accused Twitter of so-called "shadow banning" high-profile Republicans from the platform. Twitter has said that, while some users appear to not be showing up in auto-fill search results, down-ranking the results has been based solely on user behavior, not on their political leaning.
Thursday is the deadline to reunite separated migrant children with their families. Dan Diamond, Reporter at Politico, breaks down how the government is pulling this off and what may cause complications.
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
Republican Strategist Rick Wilson tells Cheddar Wednesday that Trump's private conversation with former attorney Michael Cohen reveals the president's intentions to silence women from his past.
Michael Cohen, the president's former attorney, released his secret recording of then-candidate Trump discussing payouts to a former Playboy model who claims she had an affair with him. The conversation sounded disturbingly calm and routine, says Republican political strategist Rick Wilson. This signals that "Donald Trump had a system in place inside of his organization that was devised and directed to deal with the women with whom he had various affairs."
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
President Trump said the U.S. will work towards a barriers-free trade deal with the EU, easing tensions that had been weighing on lawmakers, markets, and corporations for days.
The First Daughter said she would close her namesake clothing, shoes, and accessories brand after 15 years in the fashion business. Trump said the decision stemmed from a career transition, though the company has seen sales fall as customers displeased with her father's policies, boycott the brand.
