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Council tackles racism

Councilman Oliver wants health crisis declaration

YOUNGSTOWN — City council is preparing to declare racism a public health crisis.

Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, said toward the end of Wednesday’s virtual council meeting that he had drafted a resolution with the declaration and that he wanted his fellow council members and others to look at it for review and passage.

Council is scheduled to next meet June 17, but members said they support the resolution and want to have a special meeting soon to fine-tune and approve the legislation.

“This is something that definitely needs to happen in Youngstown,” Oliver said after the meeting. “The resolution acknowledges that racism exists and it’s a health crisis. Racism leads to a shorter lifespan — less access to health care, employment, healthy food.”

Councilwoman Lauren McNally, D-5th Ward, said council can either form a special committee or meet as “council as the whole” to “put some real action items in the resolution that we can tackle as council.”

Once council adopts the resolution, the “city can take the steps to work on” racism, Oliver said. “That includes adequate training in the city departments, especially in the police department. There’s not an issue with our police department, but there are disparities with our police department, every police department, with minorities.”

Oliver said the city’s police force doesn’t “have super bad problems, but we have some issues. I’m thankful our police department had the training to protect peaceful protesters and protect our community.”

Oliver was referring to Sunday’s rally and protest marches in Youngstown that were among several held nationwide in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd, an African-American, when Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police officers at the scene were fired and face criminal charges. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter while the three others are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The Sunday events in Youngstown were largely peaceful though a few windows were broken, a police cruiser was surrounded and at 7:54 p.m. Mayor Jamael Tito Brown declared a citywide curfew for 8:30 p.m. Police urged protesters to leave around 8:30 p.m. and started enforcing the curfew around 9 p.m. About a dozen people were arrested primarily for the curfew violation and disorderly conduct.

City officials said there were rumors of another protest Monday and at 2:19 p.m. that day Brown called for a 7 p.m. curfew. There were no protests Monday, but a peaceful protest that attracted 1,000 people was held in Warren.

In some other protests throughout the state and country, there has been vandalism and violence by protesters and in others, law enforcement has used physical force as well as tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.

On Wednesday, Cleveland City Council voted to declare racism a public health crisis. Columbus City Council did it Monday and the Franklin County Board of Health on May 13, before Floyd’s death, declared racism a public health crisis.

Other cities and counties in Ohio are considering doing the same.

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