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."
Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld called on President Trump to change the federal classification of marijuana so researchers can explore the drug's ability to treat diseases.
Comedian Samantha Bee may be too valuable to TBS for the network to scrap her show, despite vulgar comments about the president's daughter Ivanka Trump. "TV networks always want to protect the big-ratings stars," said the Hollywood Reporter's Jeremy Barr. The lack of action, just days after ABC canceled 'Roseanne' for that star's racist tweet, is seen by many as emblematic of the media's liberal bias.
The NFL's decision to ban players from taking a knee during the anthem propagates the narrative that the athletes belong at the bottom of a hierarchy and are just supposed to "do as we say," says ex-Giant Victor Cruz. "I think you'll still see some kind of protest," he tells Cheddar.
ABC is canceling its hit show 'Roseanne' after the sitcom's star Roseanne Barr made racist comments on Twitter. The company released a statement saying, "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show." Disney CEO Bob Iger chimed in to voice his support for ABC's decision. Barr has apologized for her comments about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett.
Facebook is reportedly getting ready to launch its WhatsApp Pay service in India. The company could introduce the payment service across the country as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg. WhatsApp Pay was launched in February of this year and has received rave reviews. Around 200 million people already use WhatsApp's messaging service in India.
Budweiser is introducing a new beer to its Reserve Collection. Proceeds from the new Budweiser Freedom Reserve Red Lager will go towards helping veterans. Ricardo Marques, VP of marketing at Budweiser, joins Cheddar to explain why this is an important mission for the company.
Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was arrested last week on charges of rape and a criminal sex act but the New York District Attorney's office may have a difficult time convicting him, says former U.S. prosecutor Jonna Spilbor.
Political turmoil in Italy and U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports dragged down the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 by more than 1 percent on Tuesday. "It's kind of been the one-two punch," says Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH Insights.
The host of 'The Daily Show' says he loves covering President Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "It's just like a fun exercise," he tells Cheddar's Baker Machado.
The host of Comedy Central's 'The Opposition' says he finds opportunities in the paranoia being touted by the fringe right. "We try to embody and show that chaos and kind of live in it," he told Cheddar in an interview.
North Korean General Kim Yong-chol, often referred to as Kim Jong-un's right-hand man, will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York later this week. This shows "a sense of willingness" on both ides to make the historic U.S.-North Korea summit happen, it's just a question of when, says Martyn Williams, a journalist at IDG News Service.
An Austrian privacy activist filed lawsuits against the tech giants as soon as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect at midnight, accusing the companies of failing to comply. "This is a very hard reality check for companies, not just abroad, but in the U.S.," says Andrew Rossow, internet attorney and Forbes contributor.
