FALSELY BLAMING BLACKS
FOR COVID-19 SPIKE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
As of August 15th, blacks comprised 22% (201,614) of all known COVID-19 cases in North Carolina, compared to whites, who were reportedly 61% (565,444) of all coronavirus cases across our state, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
So here in the Old North State - where Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, strongly encourages citizens to wear protective masks - there’s little evidence that African-Americans are the drivers of the new surge in COVID - 19 cases, especially with the more contagious Delta variant being a prominent factor.
That doesn’t mean that unvaccinated blacks are out of the woods, but only that they, like other population groups, are still subject to infection, especially if unvaccinated.
Indeed, in 46 states, the rates of new COVID-19 cases are higher than in previous weeks, according to John Hopkins University.
And yet, there are Republican politicians who are more than willing to blame African-Americans for any rise in coronavirus cases.
“When I looked at that drone view of [Los Angeles], where it was almost a mile-long shoulder-to-shoulder of people and they’re expressing, they’re vocal ... and now we’re finding that’s the easiest way to transmit to one another, the long periods of time next to one another,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNBC last year after a massive Black Lives Matter California protest of the George Floyd killing.
Later research proved McCarthy to be wrong in his assertion.
In July 2020, then Pres. Donald Trump blamed black and brown people for a rise in cases in the nation’s Sun Belt.
“There are likely a number of causes for the spike in infections,” he said. “Cases started to rise among young Americans shortly after demonstrations, which you know very well about, “ Trump said after the BLM demonstrations. “We’re also sharing a 2,000-mile border with Mexico, as we know very well, and cases are surging in Mexico, unfortunately.”
Again, there was no subsequent supporting evidence.
Fast forward to just last week, when the political racial COVID-19 accusations continued.
“The biggest group in most states are African Americans who have not been vaccinated,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, falsely told Laura Ingraham on Fox News August 19th, attempting to explain the Lone Star state’s recent dramatic surge in coronavirus cases. “The last time I checked, over 90 percent of them vote for Democrats in their major cities and major counties, so it's up to the Democrats to get, just as it's up to Republicans to try to get, as many people vaccinated."
However, according to the Texas Dept. of State Health Services, blacks there comprise 16.4% of coronavirus cases, as opposed to whites accounting for 34.9%, and Hispanics at 35.8%.
Blacks may be among the significantly unvaccinated in Texas, but they are not the highest, as lt. Gov. Patrick contends.“There are likely a number of causes for the spike in infections. Cases started to rise among young Americans shortly after demonstrations, which you know very well about.”
He went on, “We’re also sharing a 2,000-mile border with Mexico, as we know very well, and cases are surging in Mexico, unfortunately.”
Plus, U.S. Census figures from July show white unvaccinated Texans outnumber black unvaccinated three to one.
Only 44% of Texans have been fully vaccinated, even in the midst of Gov. Gregg Abbott’s ban on mask wearing. And according to The Texas Tribune, unvaccinated status is higher among white Republicans in the state than African-Americans.
Despite the political, and some say “racist” and inaccurate remarks about blacks comprising most new COVID-19 cases by Republican politicians, the fact remains that those who remain unvaccinated in the African-American community run the risk of becoming infected, and suffering dearly for it.
The unvaccinated point to recent news that civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, reportedly having contracted COVID-19 despite having been vaccinated. They have been hospitalized.
But most doctors agree that contracting COVID-19 while vaccinated minimizes the most severe affects of the virus, unless there are other mitigating factors compromising one’s immune system.
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HOUSE AMENDS POLICE
BODYCAM LAW, BUT
PUBLIC STILL LOCKED OUT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The North Carolina State House last week voted to make changes to the state’s controversial police video cam and dash cam law, but did little to make police videos of alleged brutality incidents more readily available to the public.
The changes are part of the large Senate Bill 300, which passed in the state Senate in May, and having been debated, modified and passed in the House last week.
The modified bill awaits passage by the Senate.
If it becomes law, police body cam video footage would still classified as not be part of the public record, or personnel record.
In order for part or the entire video to be disclosed to a family member, or NC licensed attorney representing the family of a police brutality victim, a notarized form has to be submitted to the health of the law enforcement agency involved. And then, only by order of a court could it be disclosed.
However, the person to whom the video is disclosed to shall not record or copy the video, the proposed law says. And the relevant portion regarding either death or injury shall not be edited or redacted.
No more than three business days after the law enforcement agency has received the notarized request form, it should file a petition in a superior court where the video was made for its release to the family member or authorized representative.
The superior court has seven business days to issue an order of disclosure.
The law would become effective December 1st of this year.
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COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF
VOTING RIGHT FOR PAROLEES
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
It was an elated Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman who shared the news in a statement Monday about a major voting rights court victory:
“A three-judge Superior Court panel modified its preliminary injunction today in CSI v. Moore, the lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s disenfranchisement of people living in communities across the State on felony probation, parole, or post-release supervision,” Rev. Spearman said.
“Today’s ruling allows all North Carolinians on community supervision for felony convictions to begin to register to vote and vote in North Carolina elections immediately,” he continued. “During the trial last week, plaintiffs argued that the law discriminates against Black people in both its historical intent and its effect today, excluding them from full participation in our democracy. This ruling represents the largest expansion of voting rights in North Carolina since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- restoring voting rights to over 56,000 North Carolinians living in communities across the state.”
The immediate reaction was overwhelming from social justice advocates, especially in the Black community.
“This is an outstanding victory for those individuals, all citizens and mostly African Americans and other racial minorities, who have been prevented from voting for decades as a result of an unconstitutional application of the law,” remarked Atty Irv Joyner, chairman of the nc NAACP’s Legal Redress Committee.
‘The racial impact to this voter suppression is obvious and now, a significant segment of our population has been empowered to begin a full-measure of political participation.”
Atty. Joyner continued, “I expect the State to appeal this decision, but pray that they decide not to do so. North Carolina ought to be a state where we can have pride in the fact that all of our citizens can vote and fully participate in the political franchise.”
As a former felon, Dennis Gaddy, the founder and executive director of Community Success Initiative, a nonprofit program for the formerly incarcerated and plaintiff in the case, shared what it felt like not to have the right to vote, not to have a voice at the ballot box when he sorely wanted one.
Fifty-six thousand people are now reinfranchised...where they will have a vote, and a say in their own lives,” Gaddy told reporters during a Zoom press conference Monday, later adding that at least 22,000 more former felons are expected to be released in the coming year, and will have the right to vote the moment the moment that they are released.
Gaddy went on to tell how after his release in 2005, he was unable to vote for seven years because he was on probation, meaning he was legally prohibited from voting for the nation’s first Black president, Barack Obama, in 2008.
“I…was…devastated,” Gaddy expressed, noting that from this day forth, CSI can counsel its formerly incarcerated clients that they automatically have the right to vote if they choose to exercise it.
Diana Powell, executive director of Justice Served, another Raleigh-based nonprofit community advocate, was also elated.
“I’m just so excited…can’t wait to start spreading the good news, that history has been made in North Carolina,” Ms. Powell said smiling.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR AUGUST 26TH, 2021
ROBINSON RELEASES REPORT CLAIMING TEACHERS ARE “ABUSING” THEIR POSITIONS WITH CRT
[RALEIGH] Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson released a report Tuesday claiming that some educator “are abusing” their positions by indoctrinating students with ideas derived from critical race theory. The report comes months after the black Republican formed a task force on the issue, and the state Senate is moving forward in passing a law, HB 324, against the teaching of critical race theory in North Carolina public schools. Democrats are confident that if the anti-CRT law is passed, Gov. Roy Cooper would veto it.
JESSE JACKSON AND HIS WIFE ARE SAID TO BE RESPONDING WELL TO COVID-19 TREATMENTS
[CHICAGO] NC A&T alumnus Rev. Jesse Jackson says that he’s doing “fairly well” in a Chicago hospital after it was reported earlier this week that the 79-year-old civil rights leaders contracted a breakthrough coronavirus infection, even after being fully vaccinated in January.
Reports say that Jacqueline Jackson, 77, who is also hospitalized separately. had not been vaccinated. She reportedly is on oxygen. Family members say she didn’t get the shot because of a preexisting condition, though they would not disclose what it is. Most doctors say people with diabetes, cancer or high blood pressure should get the COVID-19 shot.
REP. BUTTERFIELD ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF JOHN LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ACT.
The U.S House on Tuesday passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, though its future in the U.S. Senate isn’t assured. Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1), who voted for it, issued the following statement, in part - “Today, the House joins those generations of Americans who fought to secure a Voting Rights Act that protects the fundamental right to vote for all Americans. H.R. 4’s new preclearance formula will restore the heart of the Voting Rights Act, protect standards for voting access, and make the promise of democracy real for us all.”
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