Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Depression, Anxiety, Insomnia And Distress': Mental Toll Is Extreme For Black Health Care Workers
KQED: 'I Feel So Overwhelmed': COVID-19 And Police Violence Takes A Toll On Black Health Care Workers
Across the United States, and the world, health care workers are experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress due to the overwhelming workload of the COVID-19 pandemic. A March study of over 1,200 health care workers in China found that a large proportion experienced symptoms of “depression, anxiety, insomnia and distress.” (Wiley, 6/24)
The Washington Post: Nooses, Hangings And Cross Burnings: Imagery Of America’s Dark Racial History Sparks Fear Nationwide
Some of the ugliest, most resonant symbols of the nation's history of racial violence have returned after more than half a century to galvanize national demonstrations in recent weeks driven by the Black Lives Matter movement. On both coasts, black men have been found hanging from tree branches, suspected suicides that have revived the images of lynchings. Cross burnings are under investigation in at least two Southern states. And nooses have been reported in places as varied as the Sonoma Raceway in California and a construction site in Portland, Ore. (Green, Hawkins and Wilson, 6/24)
Kaiser Health News: Officials Seek To Shift Resources Away From Policing To Address Black ‘Public Health Crisis’
From Boston to San Bernardino, California, communities across the U.S. are declaring racism a public health crisis. Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate impact on communities of color, as well as the killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police, cities and counties are calling for more funding for health care and other public services, sometimes at the expense of the police budget. (Almendrala, 6/25)
AP: Census Shows White Decline, Nonwhite Majority Among Youngest
For the generation of Americans not yet old enough to drive, the demographic future has arrived. For the first time, nonwhites and Hispanics were a majority of people under age 16 in 2019, an expected demographic shift that will grow over the coming decades, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. (Schneider, 6/25)
The New York Times: How To Raise An Anti-Racist Kid
When kids on the gaming site Roblox were darkening the skin color of their avatars to support Black Lives Matter, 12-year-old Garvey Mortley decided to speak up. She created a video explaining the offensive history of blackface, and offered viewers more appropriate ways they could show support.“Changing your skin tone to a darker skin color in Roblox or any game is essentially painting your face with shoe polish,” she explained in the video. “It’s like you’re putting on blackface.” A better way to show virtual support, she suggested, would be to dress the character in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt. (Parker-Pope, 6/24)
Stateline: Black Homeowners Pay More Than 'Fair Share' In Property Taxes
A national reckoning with racism, combined with the economic damage wrought by the pandemic, is prompting some state and local officials to take a closer look at an issue that has long bedeviled Black homeowners: inflated property tax assessments. For decades, white tax assessors placed a heavier tax burden on Black residents by intentionally overvaluing their property. In the Jim Crow South, officials used property taxes to punish Black homeowners and churches that boycotted white businesses or hosted civil rights meetings. (Wiltz, 6/25)
The New York Times: Amazon Workers Urge Bezos To Match His Words On Race With Actions
Last week, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, wrote a rare note to all of the company’s employees. His leadership team had been reflecting on the “systemic racism” facing black communities, he said, and he urged employees to take time to learn and reflect on Juneteenth, the holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.“I’m canceling all my meetings on Friday, and I encourage you to do the same if you can,” he said. But some of Amazon’s employees said there was one big problem with his suggestion: For the vast majority of Amazon’s black workers, canceling a meeting is not an option. (Weise, 6/24)
More news on efforts to address racism and police violence is reported out of Arizona, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, Michigan and California —
The Washington Post: Tucson Police Chief Offers To Resign After Releasing Video Of Officers Restraining Hispanic Man Who Later Died
Chris Magnus, the police chief in Tucson, offered to resign Wednesday after releasing video footage showing police officers restraining Carlos Ingram-Lopez, a young man who died in their custody earlier this year. The footage was made public more than two months after Tucson police officers responded to a call about Ingram-Lopez, a 27-year-old Hispanic man, and wound up restraining him facedown. The three officers resigned last week, before the department’s internal probe had concluded, Magnus said. (Berman, 6/24)
The New York Times: Tucson Police In Turmoil After Death Of Latino Man In Custody
The police chief of Tucson, Ariz., abruptly offered to resign on Wednesday while releasing a video in which a 27-year-old Latino man, Carlos Ingram Lopez, died in police custody two months ago. The video, taken by police officers’ body cameras and not made public until Wednesday, depicts a gruesome episode on April 21. Before his death, Mr. Lopez is seen handcuffed while pleading repeatedly in English and Spanish for water and for his nana, or grandmother. (Romero, 6/24)
AP: Impatience Grows For Cops' Arrests In Breonna Taylor's Death
The outcry has reverberated for weeks online and at demonstrations nationwide: Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor. But three months after plainclothes detectives serving a warrant busted into her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment and shot the 26-year-old black woman to death, only one of the three officers who opened fire has lost his job. No one is facing criminal charges. (Lovan, 6/25)
The Washington Post: Army Activates 400 D.C. National Guard Members For Monument Protection
The Army activated about 400 unarmed members of the Washington, D.C., National Guard to “prevent any defacing or destruction” of monuments, defense officials said Wednesday, as protests over police violence continue alongside efforts to pull down statues in the capital.Interior Secretary David Bernhardt requested the Guardsmen to bolster the National Park Police, said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper, a D.C. Guard spokesman. The Guardsmen were posted at an armory awaiting directions for when and where they will be used, Clapper said. (Horton, 6/24)
The Washington Post: U.S. Marshals Told To Prepare To Help Protect Monuments Nationwide As Trump Targets People Who Vandalize Structures During Protests
U.S. marshals have been told they should prepare to help protect national monuments across the country, according to an email directive viewed by The Washington Post, as President Trump has vowed stern punishment for those who vandalize or destroy such structures as part of police violence protests. In an email, Marshals Service Assistant Director Andrew C. Smith wrote that the agency “has been asked to immediately prepare to provide federal law enforcement support to protect national monuments (throughout the country).” (Barrett and Zapotosky, 6/24)
AP: Wisconsin Governor Activates National Guard After Violence
Wisconsin’s governor activated the National Guard on Wednesday to protect state properties after a night of violence that included the toppling of two statues outside the state Capitol, one of which commemorated an abolitionist Civil War hero.Protesters also attacked a state senator, threw a Molotov cocktail into a government building and attempted to break into the Capitol Tuesday night, only to be repelled by pepper spray from police stationed inside. (Bauer and Richmond, 6/25)
AP: Detroit Police Challenged Over Face Recognition Flaws, Bias
A Black man who was wrongfully arrested when facial recognition technology mistakenly identified him as a suspected shoplifter wants Detroit police to apologize — and to end their use of the controversial technology. The complaint by Robert Williams is a rare challenge from someone who not only experienced an erroneous face recognition hit, but was able to discover that it was responsible for his subsequent legal troubles. (O'Brien, 6/25)
The New York Times: Talladega Noose Incident Puts Spotlight On NASCAR’s Troubles With Racism
Darrell Wallace Jr. said he was relieved to hear the F.B.I. say he had not been the target of a hate crime at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, after a noose hanging in his garage stall was found to have been there since at least last fall. ... The national turmoil over race and serial injustice has complicated both Wallace’s reaction and the public’s response to the F.B.I.’s findings. (Macur and Blinder, 6/24)
AP: California Voters To Decide Fate Of Affirmative Action Ban
California’s 1996 ban on affirmative action policies will be tested at ballot box in November as voters will decide whether governments and public colleges and universities can consider race in their hiring and admissions decisions — all against the backdrop of a presidential election and cultural upheaval over racial injustice. California has banned affirmative action since 1996, when 55% of voters approved a constitutional amendment that made it illegal to give preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. (Beam, 6/25)
