COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the midst of  last week's violence and rioting in major Ohio cities like Columbus and Cleveland in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus has introduced a resolution in the House that, if passed by the state legislature, would declare racism in Ohio a public health crisis.

State Rep Juanita Brent, a Cleveland Democrat signed the resolution for the OLBC, which is led by state Rep Stephanie Howse, also of Cleveland, and also a Democrat.

The resolution deeming Ohio racist is the first of its kind in Ohio.

Brent said there is no doubt that in Ohio, and elsewhere in the United States, "racism is a public crisis."

Republicans control both the House and Senate in Ohio and they hold every state office, including the governor's office, aside from two seats on the seven-member, largely Republican Ohio Supreme Court., which could turn majority Democratic in November if the Dems win the two open seats on that  court, Justice Melody Stewart, a Democrat, the only Black justice on the court.

Race discrimination violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and can be addressed via federal actions or lawsuits, which under the federal law or statute, are called 1983 claims, and Blacks, among others, like women and people 40 and older are members of a protective class under the 14th Amendment.

A similar statute is codified under state law in Ohio, specifically the Ohio Civil Rights Act of 1959, though it has a longer statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit in comparison to the applicable federal law.

Race discrimination lawsuits can be filed under state or federal law, primarily, but under federal law the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a go through in order to file suit later in federal court.

Passage of a resolution is similar to a bill in the state legislature, and goes through committee, and in this case to the Senate, if it passes the House, though the governor's signature is not required on a resolution.

In short, a resolution is symbolic and a vehicle for state legislators to make a statement on an issue of public concern or other matter, and it can lead to other types of legislation, though rarely.

Brent said Blacks feel the brunt of racism across the board relative to  education, housing, voting, jobs, economic development, and "every fabric of our system."

Columbus City Council has already introduced such a resolution and Cleveland City Council is also considering a similar resolution, one pushed by Black east side Councilman Blaine Griffin, that would declare racism a public crisis in Cleveland, city council of which is holding a hearing on the issue today, June 2.

Columbus and Cleveland are Ohio's largest cities, respectively.

The resolution offered by the Ohio Legislative black Caucus that would declare racism a public crisis in Ohio  calls for the following:

Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. 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.

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Riots broke out in downtown Cleveland Saturday afternoon as thousands of protesters rallied for justice for Minneapolis police murder victim George Floyd, forcing Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, the city's third Black mayor, to call for the National Guard to be called into the largely Black city.

The four-term mayor has also set a curfew from 8 pm-8 am beginning on Saturday, and noon-8 am Sunday beginning Sunday, both relative to downtown Cleveland. (Editor's note: The mayor has since extended the curfew from a deadline of 8 pm Monday to Tuesday at 8 pm).

Rioters torched or completely destroyed some five police cars, broke out the windows of multiple businesses, including the downtown Arcade, destroyed some downtown shelters, and threw rocks and boulders at police.

They wrote messages and profanity on some government buildings, and a group of protesters clashed with police.

Police shot off tear gas repeatedly, and in some instances unnecessarily, said activists.

Some 99 protesters, most of them White, and young, were arrested with charges ranging from disorderly conduct to criminal damaging and aggravated rioting.

There were 45 felony arrests and practically all of those arrested were from Ohio, mainly Cleveland and its suburbs.

And while there were no casualties, a White woman protester allegedly got seriously injured.

"One woman lost her eye from debris and EMS did not show up, though called" said activist Yvonne McKoy, wife of longtime community activist Art McKoy, who said they waited for two hours and then took the woman to a nearby hospital.

McKoy said that all things were calm and that all of a sudden the violence just erupted and protesters started torching police cars and throwing debris.

They shouted at police as some rode on horseback along the strip between City Hall and the Justice Center and the Justice Center and Public Square where more than three thousand protesters gathered.

"Am I next"? a sign read that was held up by a young Black woman as police and their horses trotted through the streets.

Most of the protesters were under 30 and many were White as well as Black with participants across ethic lines joining in one of at least three different marches and chanting such phrases of "No Justice No Peace," Black Lives Matter," and "Dump Trump."

Led by Black Lives Matter Cleveland, the rally, which began at 1:30 pm at the Free Stamp next to Cleveland City Hall, began peacefully as an array of speakers took to the podium.

But by the time protesters had marched from the Free Stamp to the Justice Center and settled in, some became anxious and the once peaceful event quickly turned violent.

One protester wore a t-shirt that read "F--- the police."

Organizers begged protesters to act right.

"They expect us to misbehave," a Black Lives Matter Cleveland organizer said to no avail.

Given Cleveland's history of excessive force killings against Blacks and a pending consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice for police reforms and the climate nationally relative to police brutality, the upheaval was not at all surprising, sources said, though Cleveland's Black leaders have said for years that Cleveland is a sleepy town when standing up against police brutality.

Saturday's disturbance proves otherwise.

City officials say that it was a small group of agitators who precipitated the violence.

Others say it is deeply rooted in systemic racism and the ongoing undercurrent between police and the Black community and that it cannot be laid at the feet of protesters alone.

The violence at Cleveland's rally follows a national pattern of racial unrest since Floyd's death last week by Minneapolis police.

Five people were arrested and two cops injured following two nights of protests over Floyd's death in Columbus, Ohio's state capital. And seven people were shot in Louisville, Kentucky Thursday, one critically, during a protest for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year Black EMS worker whom Louisville police shot and killed in March when three cops barged into her home.

Other incidents with police and protesters have occurred across the country, including during protests in Oakland, Detroit, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Also center stage at Cleveland's violent protest were Staten Island police murder victim Eric Garner, whom New York police choked to death in 2014, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice, whom Cleveland police gunned down in 2012 at a park and recreation center on the city's largely White west side, and the death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old community activist who was found hanged in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas in 2015.

Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, both Black and unarmed but gunned down in a car in 2012 by some 13 non-Black Cleveland cops slinging 137 bullets, were a subject of the protest too.

Floyd died Monday after since fired White cop Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer, held his knee on his neck until he killed him, and before a crowd of people as the Black man pleaded for his life and cried out that he could not breathe.

The unarmed Black man was pronounced dead an hour later at an area hospital.

The disturbing video of the incident, taken by a bystander, has shocked the conscience.

Chauvin and the other three involved officers, all of them White, were immediately fired.

Chauvin has since been charged with third degree murder and manslaughter charges and currently sits in jail without bond, the other three former officers currently under investigation for possible charges.

Protesting in Minneapolis has been continual with rioting and widespread looting and fires breaking out Tuesday night as crowds took on with police, who met them with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Multiple businesses were destroyed and an unmanned police station and an airport were set on fire.

The governor has called in the National Guard.

Arrested on a forgery charge, the murder by police of Floyd, 46, has caught on nationwide as Black people and others are obviously fed-up with excessive force by police against America's Black community.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. 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.