COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Republican lawmaker asked during a meeting of the Ohio Senate Health Committee if “the colored population” is contracting coronavirus at disproportionate rates because they do not wash their hands as “well as other groups." The American Civil Liberties Union has called for state Sen. Steve Huffman to step down from office Thursday following his comments during a hearing for a resolution to declare racism a public health crisis. Huffman, who is also a Dayton-area emergency room physician, caused controversy after he questioned Angela Dawson, executive director of the Ohio Commission of Minority Health, on Tuesday over why the COVID-19 rates for black Ohioans were higher than other populations. Huffman says he regretted how his question was perceived.
A Republican lawmaker questioned on the Senate floor if “the colored population” is contracting coronavirus at disproportionate rates because they do not wash their hands “as well as other groups.”
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