Democrats in Michigan Introduce Resolution Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

The author of this post is Ashe Schow.

    Two state legislators in Michigan have introduced a resolution that would declare racism a public health crisis.

    Fox News reported that the state senators, Marshall Bullock (D-Detroit) and Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) requested Michigan "commit to working collaboratively with the Governor and every sector of society to develop an ongoing strategy to address, fund, and support solutions that strategically reduce the long-term impact that racism has on the quality of life and health for citizens of color."

    More from Fox:

• Bullock said on the Senate floor that the coronavirus trends have been attributed to diabetes, high blood pressure and a lack of access to reliable health care, as well as crowded living situations.
• But he said underlying health conditions in communities of color can be linked to social and economic factors like discriminatory housing and education policy.
• "The only pre-existing condition that truly impacts black people and their health is racism," Bullock said.

    Geiss used terms from the coronavirus public health crisis when she discussed systemic racism, saying it "continues to be a pervasive sickness."

    "The primary vaccine for this public health crisis must lay in recognizing the crisis and intentionally working to destroy it," she added.

    As Fox reported, the "Senate resolution was co-sponsored by the rest of the Democrat caucus and one Republican, state Sen. Dale Zorn." Zorn (R-Ida) told MLive in a statement that he joined the effort "because it's the right thing to do."

    "I want to be a part of the solution going forward and I think this is one situation where I can help," he said.

    More from MLive:

• The resolution was directed to the Senate Government Operations Committee. An identical resolution is set to be introduced in the House by Rep. Cynthia Johnson, D-Detroit, later Wednesday.
• Resolutions are non-binding and do not have a direct impact on existing laws, but can be used by government bodies as a statement of priorities or to declare intentions.

    The resolution was introduced as protests and riots spread across the country following the police-involved death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. The officer who held his knee to Floyd's death for nearly nine minutes, Derek Chauvin, was arrested within days of the incident, yet the protests and riots continue.

    Michigan is not the first state to introduce a resolution likening racism to a disease.

    "Ohio on Wednesday also introduced a statewide resolution to declare racism a public health crisis, after cities like Cleveland and Columbus had already done so," Fox reported. "The Indianapolis City-County Council unanimously passed a proposal Monday night to declare racism a public health crisis in Marion County, Ind. Montgomery County, Md., will vote to declare racism a public health crisis in the county next week."