CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, COLUMBUS, Ohio –The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC), led by Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-34), an Akron Democrat and the House minority leader, is calling on GOP Gov. Mike DeWine to address disparities against Black Ohioans regarding the lack of access to the COVID-19 vaccine and the denial of adequate technological resources such as computers and the Internet as the death toll for the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount and Blacks remain at higher risk for the virus.
The group, which includes Black state lawmakers out of Cleveland of state Sen. Sandra Williams (D-21) and state Reps Stephanie Howse (D-11), Juanita Brent (D-12) and Terrence Upchurch (D-10), and Janine Boyd of neighboring Cleveland Hts (D-9), is upset over the controversy and stopped short of calling the governor a racist.
They say Blacks are being systematically denied access to the vaccine, serious words toward a governor up for reelection in 2022 who has political war chest to date of $3.6 million, more than any incumbent governor or perspective gubernatorial candidate countrywide.
Though Black Ohioans comprise 14% of the state’s population, they make up 27% of those hospitalized at one time or another with COVID-1, state data reveals, and they are dying at rates at least three to five times greater than their White counterparts in Ohio, and nationwide in some communities.
"This is the perfect opportunity for Gov. DeWine to step up, reaffirm his belief that racism is a public health crisis, and take the emergency steps to confront COVID-19 for Black Ohioans," said Rep. Sykes in a press release on Monday.
The daughter of state Sen. Dr. Vernon Sykes, and former state Rep. Barbara Sykes, both also of Akron, the younger Sykes said Black Ohioans also need greater access to the Internet, and to computers and other technology.
Ohio's fifth largest city, Akron is the native town of NBA megastar and Los Angeles Laker LeBron James, who began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is a city of some 200,000 people that is roughly 30 miles south of Cleveland.
It has a largely Black pocket the Sykes' reside in that is included in the largely Black 11th Congressional district that also encompasses most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County, and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County.
The demand by Blacks state lawmakers for fair play relative to Ohio's Black community regarding the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine comes as the governor on Monday unveiled his $75 billion two-year budget proposal and brags of "no new taxes," a proposal that state lawmakers will vote on in coming months, and that includes $1 billion slated to help the state regroup in response to the crippling pandemic.
A breakdown of the governor's budget proposal shows $460 million for small business relief, $450 million on infrastructure projects in Ohio communities, and $50 million on a marketing campaign to promote the state as a good place to live and work.
No new taxes while people in Ohio starve from a raging pandemic and while Blacks continue to disproportionately die of COVID-19 is nothing for Ohio's governor to brag about, data show.
Ohio has reported 896,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 11,178 deaths since the virus hit the U.S. with a vengeance last March.
The deadly virus has spread to all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and the nation has nearly 26.3 million reported cases and some 442,000 people dead since early March, worldwide figures showing that there are 103 million cases globally and roughly 2.24 million deaths.
And more than 40 million Americans are out of work due to the crippling pandemic.
Some seven percent of Ohioans 1.6 million people have taken the vaccine, and most of them are elderly.
It is being distributed in phases and some Blacks say Black people need their own phase with equal and greater access to the vaccine since the virus has hit America's Black community more so than any other ethic group.
A former U.S. senator and Ohio attorney general, Gov. DeWine enjoys a Republican-dominated state legislature, and Republicans hold every statewide office aside from three seats on the seven member Ohio Supreme Court, including the governor's office, and the offices of the state attorney general, auditor, treasurer, and secretary of state.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
