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]]>Christian figures and symbols — including Jesus Christ himself — have become the target of hate and vandalism as protests continue across the nation.
What initially began as a campaign against Confederate figures after George Floyd‘s police-related death in May has expanded to activists forcibly tearing down or calling for the toppling of monuments to former U.S. presidents, saints, abolitionists, and other figures.
TRUMP RESPONDS TO CLAIM HE WAS CHOSEN BY GOD
Earlier this week, Washington, D.C. protesters vandalized St. John’s Episcopal Church, located across from the White House where President Trump held up a Bible after it was burned by vandals. Demonstrators said it was a way of scoring restitution for slave owners who were Episcopalian, the Washington Examiner reports.
The president promised to sign an executive order by the end of the week to protect public statues and federal monuments, addressing the issue Wednesday.
“They’re looking at Jesus Christ, they’re looking at George Washington, they’re looking at Abraham Lincoln, they’re looking at Thomas Jefferson,” Trump said during a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the White House’s Rose Garden. “It’s not going to happen.”
Far-left activist Shaun King on Monday said all images depicting Jesus as a “white European” should be torn down because they are a form of “white supremacy” and “racist propaganda.”
In a series of tweets, King said all imagery, including “murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends,” should be taken down.
Critics argue that cultures other than white Europeans have depicted Jesus in ways that resemble the local community. For example, Ethiopia depicts Jesus as black dating back 1,500 years and images of Jesus appearing Asian can be found through the Far East.
Over the weekend, protesters in California tore down a statue of Junipero Serra, a Spanish priest whom Pope Francis recognized as a saint in 2015.
After the Serra statue was knocked down in San Francisco, Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone issued a statement defending the priest and calling it “mob rule, a troubling phenomenon that seems to be repeating itself throughout the country” and the Spanish Embassy also defended Serra asking that the “rich shared history be protected, always with the utmost respect for the debates currently taking place.”
Ahead of King’s tweets about taking down Jesus statues, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp tweeted Sunday: “Jesus statues are next. It won’t end. Pray for the USA.”
Constitutional law attorney and senior legal advisor to the Trump 2020 campaign, Jenna Ellis, went “on record” Monday to say in a tweet: “If they try to cancel Christianity, if they try to force me to apologize or recant my Faith, I will not bend, I will not waver, I will not break.”
“On Christ the solid Rock I stand,” she added. “And I’m proud to be an American.”
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Even if activists are successful in removing the image of Christ from parts of society, former governor of Arkansas and ordained minister Mike Huckabee ultimately believes this would only serve to strengthen Christians’ faith.
“You can take down the images and the art of depicting Jesus, but you can never take the true spirit of Jesus Christ out of the lives of his followers. And historically, under oppression and persecution, the true faith begins to show even more dramatically. It’s because in the midst of darkness, light becomes more obvious,” Huckabee said.
Fox News’ Teny Sahakian, Brian Flood, Bradford Betz, John Roberts, Andrew O’Reilly, and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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]]>The post How some public figures get their apologies all wrong appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>These are “sorry” times.
A Google News search for “apology” over the past week reaps reams of contrition, including NFL quarterback Drew Brees’ wife’s apology for his remarks about kneeling during the national anthem and a Fox News apology for a graphic showing how the stock market rose after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
But apologizes, whether they are earnest mea culpas or cynical rhetorical devices, must either address the perceived victim or else fall flat in self-servitude, a leading psychological researcher says.
“Public apologies from well-known figures like this are really difficult to do in a convincing way,” said Cynthia Frantz, professor of psychology and environmental studies at Oberlin College. “There are just so many competing reasons explaining the apology.”
In large part, apologies are in high demand.
On Saturday, a Fox News host apologized for a graphic presented a day earlier that linked upticks in the stock market after the widely publicized deaths of black men such as King in 1968; Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014; and George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
“Last night, Fox News Channel aired an infographic attempting to show the stock market on occasion gained ground in the midst of turmoil, civil unrest and even tragedy,” said anchor Eric Shawn. “In trying to make that point, the program ‘Special Report’ failed to explain the context of the times we are living in and should not have used that graphic.”
In an emotional Instagram post Saturday, Brittany Brees, wife of the New Orleans Saints quarterback, quoted a Bible verse and wrote, “To say ‘I don’t agree with disrespecting the flag,’ I now understand was also saying I don’t understand what the problem really is, I don’t understand what you’re fighting for, and I’m not willing to hear you because of our preconceived notions of what that flag means to us.”
Days earlier, her husband apologized for comments about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who would silently take a knee during the national anthem to raise awareness about police brutality. Brees retracted his remarks in an Instagram post and video after weathering criticism from teammates and NBA star LeBron James.
The anatomy of an apology, according to social science research, suggests some beta-level requirements: use of the word “apology,” public accountability and showing the bad action won’t continue.
Ms. Frantz said the apology issued by Brees succeed on some fronts — by specifically naming those he offended, including the general New Orleans community and black residents — but failed by returning to talk about himself.
Getting an apology right is a taller task when apologies are not between individuals but rather among a group or groups of people. Last week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a video admitting the league erred in dealing with peaceful protests by players in past seasons, including fines against teams for players who knelt during the anthem.
“We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all players to speak out and peacefully protest,” Mr. Goodell said in his message. “We, the National Football League, believe that black lives matter.”
The NFL got slammed by players, a Hollywood director and even President Trump for a statement that was considered as either too-little, too-late or an appeasement to a fringe element that despises America.
“Could it be even remotely possible that in Roger Goodell’s rather interesting statement of peace and reconciliation, he was intimating that it would now be O.K. for the players to KNEEL, or not to stand, for the National Anthem, thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?” Mr. Trump tweeted Monday.
Another critical ingredient in an apology is credibility, said Ms. Frantz. For white people, especially on the subject of race, an apology can risk sounding tired or just more talk after decades of discrimination.
“For black people, they’ve heard white people for centuries say something needs to change … and nothing has gone down differently,” said Ms. Frantz. “It’s a lot of mental gymnastics going on.”
Even the best of intentions can have a way of backfiring. The founders of the social justice group Campaign Zero apologized this week. They said their #8cantwait proposals to decrease police violence by 72% have “detracted” from the larger conversation on police brutality. Critics said the group’s proposals were insufficient compared with calls for defunding police departments.
“Fair questions have now been raised about the analysis underlying the #8cantwait initiative,” Campaign Zero co-founder Brittany Packnett Cunningham said Tuesday in a statement posted to Medium announcing her resignation from the group.
Meanwhile, critics have called recent statements by Mr. Goodell and the images of white Americans leading protests to be symptoms of “white guilt,” hollow sentiments that do more to make apologizers feel better about their privilege than to address systemic racism.
“White people are pushing me and others like me aside to alleviate their own guilt and prove that they are different from Derek Chauvin,” author Chad Sanders wrote in a New York Times editorial, referring to the police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. “Many white people I know are spilling over with guilt and overzealous attempts to offer sympathy.”
Instead, Mr. Sanders called for white friends to fight “anti-blackness.”
Nevertheless, some aren’t apologizing. The Minneapolis police union boss, Bob Kroll, characterized protesters in Minnesota as “terrorists” and didn’t include any mention of sympathy for Floyd’s death in a letter to the federation last week.
“You’ve turned the tide of the largest scale riot that Minneapolis has ever seen,” Mr. Kroll said, amplifying support for officers without addressing criticism of systemic racism within the force.
His strident stance matches that of a man he has appeared with at rallies: Mr. Trump, whose own persona as a pugnacious, never-back-down leader garnered him success in the 2016 election.
Still, the perverse consequences of apologies is that those who apologize — say, then-Sen. Al Franken, who apologized to women for inappropriate touching — often don’t satisfy the apology seekers.
But when interpersonal relationships, not powerful titles or jobs, are what matters, apologies will continue to be the best option for building trust, Ms. Frantz said.
“If your goal is to wield power, then you might not need to apologize,” she said. “But [an apology is needed] if you actually care about being in relationships with others.”
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]]>The post Sports figures both black and white speak out about George Floyd death, protests appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Many professional and college athletes and coaches did not “stick to sports” over the weekend as demonstrations broke out around the country in reaction to the death of George Floyd and other black people at the hands of police.
Dozens of figures from the sports world shared messages of anger and a desire for change, including several prominent white athletes. Some basketball players even joined in the protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere around the U.S.
“The murders are normal,” Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III tweeted. “The protest and riots are normal. The crying out for help is normal. Doing nothing about it is normal. We need a new normal. The protest and Riots are fighting to Normalize Equality. I’m all for that new normal.”
Floyd died Monday after he was arrested on suspicion of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli. Video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd’s neck on the ground for almost nine minutes. Chauvin and three other officers at the scene were fired and Chauvin was later charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
For many, the situation evoked the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who died from being held in a chokehold by police in New York. Both Floyd and Garner were heard on video saying “I can’t breathe,” which in 2014 became a rallying cry that LeBron James and many other NBA and NFL stars printed on black warm-up T-shirts they wore before games.
Retired NBA player Stephen Jackson revealed he was friends with Floyd from growing up together in Texas. Jackson led a protest in front of Minneapolis City Hall Friday, which was attended by Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns.
“You can’t tell me, when (Chauvin) had his knee on my brother’s neck, taking his life away with his hand in his pocket, that that smirk on his face didn’t say, ‘I’m protected,’” Jackson said in part.
Ohio State basketball player Seth Towns was briefly detained at a Columbus, Ohio-based protest. And Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said he drove 15 hours to lead a protest in his home state of Georgia on Saturday.
“This is a peaceful protest,” he said during an Instagram stream. “Being a celebrity, being an NBA player, don’t exclude me from no conversations at all. First and foremost, I’m a black man and I’m a member of this community.”
Mystics guard Natasha Cloud wrote in The Players’ Tribune that “millions” of people help to “protect those racist cops” from justice by staying silent — describing it metaphorically as, “your knee is on my neck.”
In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote that the black community was wondering “whether being black means sheltering at home for the rest of their lives because the racism virus infecting the country is more deadly than COVID-19.”
“Yes, protests often are used as an excuse for some to take advantage, just as when fans celebrating a hometown sports team championship burn cars and destroy storefronts,” he wrote. “I don’t want to see stores looted or even buildings burn. But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer.”
Wizards star Bradley Beal spent much of his Saturday engaging in discussion with Twitter followers about the right path forward. Early on, he asked, “If peaceful protest don’t work. Looting/rioting don’t work. What do we do?,” a tweet that received nearly 20,000 likes.
“It’s funny how people think: I’ve been rich my whole life,” Beal also tweeted. “I forgot where I came from. I don’t deal with what they do! I’m privileged. I don’t get racially profiled. I don’t get stopped for nothing. I lost touch of what’s going on. All because I made it to the league.”
Beal was one of several to speak out against looting businesses in the areas where protests took place.
“We need to tear down the system of oppression not destroy our community,” Griffin III wrote.
Black activists often call for white allies to stand with them and condemn racist acts. In the sports world this weekend, Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow was among the most prominent white figures to speak out.
“The black community needs our help,” Burrow wrote on Twitter. “They have been unheard for far too long. Open your ears, listen, and speak. This isn’t politics. This is human rights.”
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and NHL players Logan Couture and Blake Wheeler, the latter of whom is from the Minneapolis area, also spoke out about Floyd’s death.
Nationals closer Sean Doolittle began his own message on social media by calling racism “America’s original sin.”
“It was here before we even forged a nation, and has been passed down from generation to generation,” Doolittle wrote. “And we still struggle to acknowledge that it even exists, much less atone for it. The generational trauma of racism and violence is killing black men and women before our eyes. We are told it is done in the name of, ‘law and order,’ but there is nothing lawful nor orderly about these murders.”
Another white Nationals player, minor league catcher Tres Barrera, noted that he is married to an African-American woman.
“As a future father of an African American child and a husband to an African American woman, it is frightening and sickening to see what continues to go on,” he tweeted. “We need change. MY FAMILY MATTERS.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who is also white, was one of the first prominent sports faces to call Floyd’s death a murder. Over several days Kerr tweeted and retweeted opinions critical of President Trump and Vice President Pence, including sharing an article about Trump titled, “The Psychopath in Chief.”
Kerr, LeBron James and sports columnists alike drew a straight line from former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protests in 2016 to the image of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before games and said his aim was to protest police brutality.
On Friday, Kaepernick launched the “Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative” to pay for lawyers for those arrested while protesting in Minneapolis — whom Kaepernick called “freedom fighters.”
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]]>The post Sports figures react on social media to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>CLOSE
SportsPulse: New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty has always been a vocal member of Player’s Coalition on social issues. He shared his perspective on George Floyd’s death to Mackenzie Salmon.
USA TODAY
George Floyd’s death after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, as shown in a video that was posted online, has reignited the conversation around racism, police brutality and unequal treatment by law enforcement in the United States.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested Friday, and is facing third-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Floyd, who was 46 years old. All four officers involved in Monday’s incident were fired Tuesday.
This painful moment has led to protests around the country, most notably in Minneapolis.Many figures in the sports world also have weighed in on the situation in Minnesota and the discussion that continues around racial inequality. Here’s what current and former athletes, coaches and others involved with sports have posted to social media:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
“Enough is enough! It’s time for change!” the reigning NBA MVP wrote on Twitter.
I really don’t know how to put into words exactly how I feel, but one thing I know for sure is that enough is enough! It’s time for change! #GeorgeFloyd#AhmaudArbery
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) May 31, 2020
Brian Flores
The Miami Dolphins released a statement by their head coach, who wrote in part, “My message to them and anyone else who wants to listen is that honesty, transparency, and empathy go a long way in bringing people together and making change.”
Statement from Head Coach Brian Flores. pic.twitter.com/dJOdHHSvNT
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) May 29, 2020
Coco Gauff
The tennis player posted a video to Twitter, wondering “Am I Next?”
Joe Burrow
Burrow, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, national champion at LSU and the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, posted to Twitter, “The black community needs our help. They have been unheard for far too long. Open your ears, listen, and speak. This isn’t politics. This is human rights.”
The black community needs our help. They have been unheard for far too long. Open your ears, listen, and speak. This isn’t politics. This is human rights.
— Joey Burrow (@Joe_Burrow10) May 29, 2020
Dwane Casey
The Detroit Pistons head coach released a statement remembering growing up in segregated, rural Kentucky and whether or not his eight-year-old son will have those same experiences.
Pistons coach Dwane Casey releases a powerful message. pic.twitter.com/xx7xg3QPlo
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) May 30, 2020
P.J. Fleck
The Minnesota Golden Gophers head football coach released a statement on Twitter, saying in part, “(George Floyd’s) death was indefensible, and I stand with the community in asking for accountability and justice.”
Barry Alvarez
The University of Wisconsin released a statement by its athletics director, who wrote in part, “I want to acknowledge the pain that the African-American students, coaches and staff in our department and community are feeling about this incident. It’s hard to put into words and impossible to relate to. But make no mistake, it is a priority for our athletic department to make sure that voices are heard and support is provided.”
Statement from Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez pic.twitter.com/KS8Al5aFsr
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) May 29, 2020
Arthur Blank
The owner of the Atlanta Falcons said in his message “The public discourse on these and other issues is too divisive, too political. These are not political issues, they are human issues that need serious, earnest attention from leaders and citizens alike who understand that diversity is our strength and fair treatment is everyone’s right. Open, honest dialogue is needed on a much greater scale.”
John Calipari
The Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach wrote in part on Twitter, “Whether you’re talking George Floyd or a number of other incidents that have happened in our country and in our backyard, I’m sick because I cannot believe one human being could treat another human being the way we’ve seen with some of these injustices.”
Like many of you, I’ve been watching what’s been going on the last couple of days and have had some time to think about it and pray about it. All I can tell you is I’m sick.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) May 30, 2020
Colin Kaepernick
The former NFL quarterback expressed support for the protesters in Minneapolis.
When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction.
The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance.
We have the right to fight back!
Rest in Power George Floyd
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) May 28, 2020
Kaepernick also pledged to provide legal assistance for Minneapolis protesters.
In fighting for liberation there‘s always retaliation. We must protect our Freedom Fighters. We started a legal defense initiative to give legal representation to Freedom Fighters in Minneapolis paid for by @yourrightscamp
For representation or to donate https://t.co/q0pzAObCiG
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) May 29, 2020
Bradley Beal
The Washington Wizards all-star posted to Twitter: “The world will never grow until we are comfortable having the uncomfortable talks and taking action upon them!!!!”
The world will never grow until we are comfortable having the uncomfortable talks and taking action upon them!!!!
Racism, Discrimination, Gangs, Sexism, Police Brutality, Guns, Drugs, Systematic Injustice, etc… all social issues we need to FIX!!!!
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) May 29, 2020
Mike Hopkins
The Washington Huskies men’s basketball coach met with his team on Friday.
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) May 30, 2020
Mike Locksley
Alex Morgan
The World Cup-winning U.S. women’s soccer star tweeted, “So sickened beyond words by the brutal police killing of George Floyd. When will all Americans be treated and respected equally regardless of race and gender?? We are yearning for true leadership and inclusivity from the top.”
So sickened beyond words by the brutal police killing of George Floyd. When will all Americans be treated and respected equally regardless of race and gender?? We are yearning for true leadership and inclusivity from the top.
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) May 29, 2020
Cameron Jordan
The New Orleans Saints Pro Bowl defensive end pondered on Twitter, “For every recorded “incident” (murder) how many get swept under the table when not recorded?”
For every recorded “incident” (murder) how many get swept under the table when not recorded? When people don’t have emotional and overwhelming outburst reactions to an American dying by what’s supposed to be a body of governing forces that’s sworn to PROTECT AND SERVE?
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) May 29, 2020
LeBron James
The NBA star posted an image to his Instagram account of George Floyd alongside Colin Kaepernick kneeling with the message, “Do you understand NOW!!??!!??”
Magic Johnson
The Basketball Hall of Famer posted to Twitter, “How many times do we have to see black men killed on national television? This has been going on for entirely too long. We need to start seeing black people as human beings and not animals on the street.”
George Floyd was clearly murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. How many times do we have to see black men killed on national television? This has been going on for entirely too long. We need to start seeing black people as human beings and not animals on the street.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 27, 2020
Marlon Hairston, Ike Opara, Michael Boxall
The Minnesota United players responded to George Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests.
Hard to sleep thru everything that’s going on outside in the streets out here. Crazy times but wishing safety to everyone. #minneapolisriots
— Marlon Hairston (@MARLYG94) May 28, 2020
From George Floyd, to Amy Cooper, to Tom Austin…it is beyond exhausting. You can choose to be blind about the injustices, broken systems, and privileges…or choose to educate yourself and overcome your biases.
— Ike Opara (@ikeopara) May 27, 2020
Unemployment doesn’t seem like a fitting punishment for murder. https://t.co/kMZf5S1xZ6
— Michael Boxall (@boxy) May 27, 2020
Jaylen Brown
The Boston Celtics guard tweeted that he’d be peacefully protesting on Saturday.
I will be peacefully protesting tommorow
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) May 30, 2020
Carson Wentz
The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback posted a message on Twitter, saying, “All I know is that the institutional racism in this country breaks my heart and needs to stop.”
Zach and Julie Ertz
Wentz’s Eagles teammate posted a message to Twitter on behalf of himself and his wife, U.S. national soccer team player Julie Ertz, “Julie and I are standing with you all during this time, solely out of love. I will not believe that the America of the past is going to be the America of the future.”
Trevor Lawrence
The Clemson quarterback posted to Twitter, “I’m siding with my brothers that deal, and continuously deal, with things I will never experience. The injustice is clear.. and so is the hate.”
I’m siding with my brothers that deal, and continuously deal, with things I will never experience. The injustice is clear.. and so is the hate. It can no longer be explained away. If you’re still “explaining” it – check your heart and ask why.
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) May 29, 2020
Ryan Saunders
The Minnesota Timberwolves coach wrote on Instagram that his “heart shatters” for what transpired in Minneapolis.
Steve Kerr
The Golden State Warriors coach wrote on Twitter, “This is murder. Disgusting. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with US????”
This is murder. Disgusting. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with US???? https://t.co/wesEwd4Bb2
— Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) May 26, 2020
Odell Beckham, Jr.
The Cleveland Browns receiver posted to Twitter, “Worlds honestly sickening. It really is….. no explanation.”
Worlds honestly sickening. It really is….. no explanation
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) May 27, 2020
Karl Joseph
The Browns safety wrote a message on Instagram, “There’s no way to justify this situation I don’t care what this man did or didn’t do, he did not deserve this! And if you try to justify it in any way you’re part of the problem.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Karl Joseph
(@k_joseph42) on
Evander Kane
The San Jose Sharks player wrote on Twitter, “This makes my blood (expletive) boil! All four “officers” need to be jailed for life and it still wouldn’t be enough. The video is all anyone needs to see.”
This makes my blood f*****g boil! All four “officers” need to be jailed for life and it still wouldn’t be enough. The video is all anyone needs to see. #caseclosedhttps://t.co/o38USN8kOx
— Evander Kane (@evanderkane_9) May 26, 2020
Bill Curry
The former NFL player and college football coach posted to Twitter, “My generation had a chance to change much of this illogical hatred, and we whiffed, ignoring chances to change old racist attitudes.”
My generation had a chance to change much of this illogical hatred, and we whiffed, ignoring chances to change old racist attitudes. Though there has been progress in some areas, in other ways we are back to the sixties. No excuse. I’m partially responsible, humbled and sorry.
— Bill Curry (@coachbillcurry) May 29, 2020
Roger Goodell
“There remains an urgent need for action. We recognize the power of our platform in communities and as part of the fabric of American society. We embrace that responsibility and are committed to continuing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs and partners,” the NFL commissioner wrote in a statement.
Jamion Christian
“I refuse to believe that the most powerful country in the world cannot be better than this, that we can’t stand up for one another and the rights that each of us have been given by God,” the George Washington University basketball coach wrote in a statement.
Blake Wheeler
The Minnesota native and Winnipeg Jets captain took to Twitter with a statement that read in part: “We need to stand with the black community and fundamentally change how the leadership in this country has dealt with racism.”
I needed to say something in my own words. pic.twitter.com/VpkidaMjbX
— Blake Wheeler (@BiggieFunke) May 31, 2020
Jed York
The San Francisco 49ers CEO said the organization would be “donating $1 million to local and national organizations who are creating change.”
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]]>The post New figures show stark disparities in coronavirus deaths across NYC neighborhoods | TheHill appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>New data released Monday shows stark disparities in coronavirus death rates across New York City neighborhoods.
The New York City Health Department for the first time released data on coronavirus deaths broken down by the city’s more than 60 ZIP codes, showing that some neighborhoods are experiencing death rates almost 15 times higher than others.
The data demonstrates the COVID-19 pandemic has been deadliest in black and Latino neighborhoods, according to analysis by Reuters.
The highest death rate was documented in Canarsie-Flatlands in Brooklyn, an area with a subsidized housing development, where 612 in 100,000 people died from the virus.
The primarily white and wealthy neighborhood Gramercy Park in Manhattan 31 deaths per 100,000 people were recorded. In Far Rockaway in Queens, which has a 40 percent black and a 25 percent Latino population, there were 445 deaths per 100,000 people.
New York City had previously released daily updates in cases broken down by ZIP code but the death count was released by borough.
City advocates have been calling for more data collection, saying it would show racial and economic inequalities in the U.S. city that has been hardest hit by the pandemic.
Mark Levine, the chairman of the City Council’s health committee, told Reuters in an interview that black and Latino residents are more likely to have low-paid, essential jobs putting them at risk of contracting the virus.
He added that these populations are more likely to live in smaller, more crowded apartments and have underlying health conditions.
“It’s really heartbreaking and it should tug at the moral conscience of the city,” he told Reuters. “We knew we had dramatic inequality. This, in graphic form, shows it’s even greater than maybe many of us feared.”
In total, New York City has recorded 191,073 cases of coronavirus, leading to at least 50,217 hospitalizations. The city has documented at least 15,983 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 4,823 probable deaths.
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]]>The post Flu Death Figures From CDC ‘Dangerously Misleading The Public,’ Says Emergency Medicine Physician appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust, an emergency medicine physician and instructor at Harvard Medical School, has published a blog post on Scientific American calling on the Center for Disease Control to change the way it reports flu deaths, suggesting that those figures may be misleading the public about the lethality of the coronavirus.
Dr. Faust draws attention to the figures many people associate with flu deaths, noting that they are calculated in a different way than coronavirus deaths, and as such, comparing the death rates from the two is like “comparing apples to oranges.”
As Dr. Faust points out, the CDC determines a range of flu deaths by creating an algorithm that accounts for a variety of factors including total reported deaths, estimated cases, hospitalizations, and total presumed unreported deaths, among others.
In the last six flu seasons, the CDC’s reported number of actual confirmed flu deaths—that is, counting flu deaths the way we are currently counting deaths from the coronavirus—has ranged from 3,448 to 15,620, which far lower than the numbers commonly repeated by public officials and even public health experts.
For example, the preliminary CDC estimate for total flu deaths in the 2017-2018 season, the most deadly flu season in the last several years, has been modeled at about 61,000 deaths. In addition to this figure, the center has also published an estimated death range between 46,404 and 94,987.
But while the preliminary estimate for flu deaths is 61,000 in the 2017-2018 season, the total number of confirmed flu deaths is 15,620. Between January 13 and January 20, 2018 — the deadliest week of the deadliest flu season in the last several years — there were 1,626 confirmed flu deaths.
The Washington Post, which has also reported on Dr. Faust’s blog post, notes that the flu season mortality estimate comes from a “model that attempts to adjust for what many epidemiologists believe is a severe undercount” in flu deaths.
Of the flu death figures, Dr. Faust writes:
The CDC should immediately change how it reports flu deaths. While in the past it was justifiable to err on the side of substantially overestimating flu deaths, in order to encourage vaccination and good hygiene, at this point the CDC’s reporting about flu deaths is dangerously misleading the public and even public officials about the comparison between these two viruses. If we incorrectly conclude that COVID-19 is ‘just another flu,’ we may retreat from strategies that appear to be working in minimizing the speed of spread of the virus.
The CDC’s provisional coronavirus death count, which is updated as death certificate data becomes available, shows that 12,516 people died from coronavirus between April 4 and April 11. The following week, 10,478 people died from the coronavirus.
According to the provisional death count, which is an average of 1-2 weeks behind, 38,576 people have died as of May 4. According to The New York Times, 68,672 people in the United States have died from coronavirus. As of April 29, this figure includes 5,600 deaths that public health officials have identified as probable coronavirus cases.
The news agency notes that “most states and counties only report figures in which a coronavirus infection was confirmed through testing.”
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