Ohio State Senator - "The colored population" not washing their hands?

[Jimmy Higgins]

We know it’s twice as often, correct? Could it just be that African Americans – the colored population — do not wash their hands as well as other groups? Or wear a mask? Or do not socially distance themselves? Could that just be maybe the explanation of why there’s a higher incidence?

link (paywall, but it is the Post, so subscribe will ya?!)

It really is a bit of an insult to suggest they aren't doing their part. Is that why African Americans.... I'm sorry "the colored population" dies from cancer more as well? So when your question is already insenstive like that, you expect stupidity. But does Ohio still elect people that use the term "colored"? The guy is 55, not 85.

And in the link, the person testifying is already talking about the disparity when it comes to death of diseases. So she has effectively answered the question the guy is asking after she answered it.

 

[ZiprHead]

I, of course, can't speak for other locals but here African Americans were the first and still the most prominent mask wearers.

 

[laughing dog]

I think the use of "the colored population" says all one needs to know about Senator Huffman and his views.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I, of course, can't speak for other locals but here African Americans were the first and still the most prominent mask wearers.

That has been my observation in NE Ohio as well.

 

[Worldtraveller]

I actually couldn't say. I rarely see non-white people. Yes, that makes me sad, actually.

I don't remember the stats now, but I live in what is like the 3rd whitest part of the US.

There is a definite contingent, consistently 30-40ish, I'd guess, with only slightly less in their 50s people who are not wearing masks, and notably giving the side eye to anyone who doesn't look like their grandparents who are. I like to look them right in the eye and stare them down, then give a disapproving shake of my head. It's a fun pastime when I'm at the store.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

He claims to have thought the phrase "colored population" was the same as "people of color". Nice try.

He was fired from his job as an ER doctor (!) yesterday for being a racist idiot.

 

[ideologyhunter]

He represents the 5th (senatorial) district, which is way south of me. Once you get to the middle of the state, those Trump signs are everywhere. Still....sheesh. If you're a state senator and you still haven't mastered the formulae of respectful social discourse, you've clearly been preaching to the Fox News Nation too long.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

He represents the 5th (senatorial) district, which is way south of me. Once you get to the middle of the state, those Trump signs are everywhere. Still....sheesh. If you're a state senator and you still haven't mastered the formulae of respectful social discourse, you've clearly been preaching to the Fox News Nation too long.

When I had work out in your neck of the "woods" in 2016, Huron, Eric, Sandusky Counties, those red signs were everywhere!

 

[TSwizzle]

Clumsy wording for sure but what is so objectionable about asking a question as to why a particular demographic appears to be more susceptible to contracting the virus ?

 

[laughing dog]

Clumsy wording for sure but what is so objectionable about asking a question as to why a particular demographic appears to be more susceptible to contracting the virus ?

There is nothing wrong with asking such questions - epidemologists and medical researchers do it frequently. But they are "agile" enought to avoid using overt racist terminology.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Clumsy wording for sure but what is so objectionable about asking a question as to why a particular demographic appears to be more susceptible to contracting the virus ?

There is nothing wrong with asking such questions - epidemologists and medical researchers do it frequently. But they are "agile" enought to avoid using overt racist terminology.

It is also worth repeating that the question was already answered before he even asked it!

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Clumsy wording for sure but what is so objectionable about asking a question as to why a particular demographic appears to be more susceptible to contracting the virus ?

He's a doctor. Shouldn't he already know the answer?

 

[Lion IRC]

I think the use of "the colored population" says all one needs to know about Senator Huffman and his views.

The "people of color" population ???
Better?

 

[J842P]

Clumsy wording for sure but what is so objectionable about asking a question as to why a particular demographic appears to be more susceptible to contracting the virus ?

There is nothing wrong with asking such questions - epidemologists and medical researchers do it frequently. But they are "agile" enought to avoid using overt racist terminology.

There's nothing overtly racist about saying "colored people". It is at worst old-fashioned, and not very long ago, it was the polite way of saying "not white". Unless you are going to claim that the NAACP is overtly racist?

It is certainly no more overtly racist than "people of color". Both are similarly stupid. Since all people have color.

 

[ruby sparks]

I agree. But I think when you put the two things together, using an old-fashioned term, plus asking a loaded question that may be more like a bit of a slanderous suggestion.....

Unless of course he’s right, and the behaviour of African Americans as regards hygiene and precautions is actually a relevant factor.

Even if it were, there might be relevant aspects to it such as for example poverty, poor living conditions or lack of education, which are not entirely unrelated to unfair disadvantage.

It’s a good question I suppose. All other socioeconomic things being equal, do whites wash their hands more, or take Covid precautions, more than African Americans. It’s not something I’d have thought was likely.

And if one doesn’t know the answer, making the implied suggestion in public, from a position of power and privilege, might be a bit dodgy.

 

[ruby sparks]

Clumsy wording for sure but what is so objectionable about asking a question as to why a particular demographic appears to be more susceptible to contracting the virus ?

There is nothing wrong with asking such questions - epidemologists and medical researchers do it frequently. But they are "agile" enought to avoid using overt racist terminology.

It is also worth repeating that the question was already answered before he even asked it!

Is that the case? I couldn’t get behind the paywall.

If it is the case then it would not reflect well on him.

 

[Toni]

It is also worth repeating that the question was already answered before he even asked it!

Is that the case? I couldn’t get behind the paywall.

If it is the case then it would not reflect well on him.

Here's how I get behind paywalls: I open a new browser, using the incognito mode. It usually works for me.

I am a WaPo subscriber for ages. It's generally a really good news source, as well as the NYT.

 

[Toni]

But but but I thought we lived in a post racial society??????

 

[crazyfingers]

I, of course, can't speak for other locals but here African Americans were the first and still the most prominent mask wearers.

Where I am 20 miles south of Boston, MA my wild guess is that non-whites are around 30%-40% of the population. Not just African American but also Indian (as in next to China) and others including Chinese. It's a pretty diverse area. This is based mainly on my observations at the grocery store, driving around and times that I have had to go to the public school, now closed.

I'd say that mask use is either about the same or a bit higher with non-whites.

Of course, I expect that we've all read or seen the reports on how conflicted African Americans have to be about wearing a mask. Because of the systemic racism African Americans have a real safety conflict on wearing a mask or not. In some places wearing a mask can get them arrested! To wear or not is a balance of risks that I as a white person don't have to make.

It's been a good 25 years since I was anywhere close to Ohio but if an Ohio Senator actually referred to the African American population as "the colored population" then my guess would be that real conflict between mask wearing or not may be a factor "if" it's true in Ohio that African Americans are less likely to wear a mask.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

But but but I thought we lived in a post racial society??????

We do, they don’t.