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		</div><h6><strong><span style="color: #523838;">Ohio republican state senator Steve Huffman has tried to walkback a racially tone deaf question he asked <span class="mol-style-bold"> during a Senate Health Committee on Tuesday </span> </span></strong></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #523838;"><strong>Huffman asked: &#8216;Could it just be that African Americans or the colored population do not wash their hands as well as other groups?&#8217;</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #523838;"><strong>Sen. Steve Huffman, an emergency room physician from R-Tipp City, has worked as a doctor in Ohio for 18 years </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #523838;"><strong>By implying that black people were dirty and lacked the intelligence to wash their hands, Huffman&#8217;s comment highlight racism from a systemic perspective in America &#8211; Stephanie Howse, </strong><strong>Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #523838;"><strong>Huffman in a statement said &#8230;&#8217;Regrettably, I asked a question in an unintentionally awkward way that was perceived as hurtful and was exactly the opposite of what I meant, I was trying to focus on why COVID-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons.&#8217; </strong></span></h6>
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<h6><strong><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-349070" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Steve-Huffman-1.jpg" alt="Steve Huffman 1" width="701" height="395" /></span>Dumb, Blind question: Ohio State Senator Steve Huffman in an undated photograph. Huffman used a term considered a racial slur during a Senate Health Committee meeting on Tuesday </strong></h6>
<p class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">A Republican lawmaker in Ohio stirred up a backlash after he asked if &#8216;the colored population&#8217; has a higher fatality rate from coronavirus because they &#8216;do not wash their hands as well as other groups&#8217;. </span></p>
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<div class="mobile-gallery-icon"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">GOP State Senator Steve Huffman from Tipp City, north of Dayton, was asking about possible reasons for the alarming trend during a Senate Health Committee meeting yesterday.<br />
&#8216;My point is I understand African Americans have a higher incidence of chronic conditions and it makes them more susceptible to death from COVID,&#8217; said Huffman, who is trained as an emergency room physician.<br />
&#8216;But why it doesn&#8217;t make them more susceptible to just get COVID. Could it just be that African Americans or the colored population do not wash their hands as well as other groups or wear a mask or do not socially distance themselves?<br />
&#8216;That could be the explanation of the higher incidence?&#8217;<br />
Recent data has revealed the coronavirus is disproportionately high fatality rate among the country&#8217;s black population compared o other demographic groups, with around 58 percent of all virus-related deaths taking place in black communities.<br />
Huffman, an emergency room physician at Valley Medical Center and Wayne Hospital in Ohio for 18 years, was immediately corrected by Ohio Commission on Minority Health Director Angela Dawson.</span></div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">&#8216;That is not the opinion of leading medical experts in this country,&#8217; Dawson, who is black, replied. The virus attacks the respiratory system, making people with pre-existing conditions more at risk, Dawson adds.<br />
Shortly after the hearing, Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President Stephanie Howse, a Democrat from Cleveland, said Huffman&#8217;s comment highlights racism from a systemic perspective, adding that he implied African Americans were dirty and lacked the intelligence to wash their hands, Dayton Daily News reported.</p>
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<h6><strong> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-349071" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Steve-Huffman-2.jpg" alt="Steve Huffman 2" width="634" height="423" />Huffman, [right], who is a trained emergency room physician, said &#8216;Regrettably, I asked a question in an unintentionally awkward way that was perceived as hurtful and was exactly the opposite of what I meant&#8217;, the statement reads. &#8216;I was trying to focus on why COVID-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons.&#8217; </strong></h6>
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<div class="mobile-gallery-icon"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">Cleveland Democrat Stephanie Howse said Huffman&#8217;s comments, as a doctor, highlighted &#8216;racism from a systematic perspective&#8217;</span></div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">&#8216;He highlights what racism is from a systematic [systemic] perspective. He&#8217;s a full legislator but beyond that, professionally, he&#8217;s a doctor,&#8217; she told the newspaper.<br />
&#8216;When we talk about the health disparities that happen because black folks aren&#8217;t believed when they&#8217;re actually hurt, they aren&#8217;t given the treatment that they need.<br />
&#8216;Do you think that someone who acknowledges the &#8216;coloreds&#8217; is going to give the love and care that people need when they come through those doors?&#8217;<br />
Huffman released a statement saying that he asked the question in &#8216;an unintentionally awkward way&#8217; and that he was trying to find an explanation for the trend &#8216;since we really do not know all the reasons&#8217;.<br />
&#8216;Regrettably, I asked a question in an unintentionally awkward way that was perceived as hurtful and was exactly the opposite of what I meant&#8217;, the statement reads.<br />
&#8216;I was trying to focus on why COVID-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons.&#8217;<br />
John Fortney, spokesman for Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, told the Beacon Journal: &#8216;I know the president addressed it by speaking with Senator Huffman and also talked with committee members.&#8217;<br />
He added that the Senate would be taking part in a &#8216;listening tour&#8217; on racial issues.<br />
&#8216;The upcoming conversations may be uncomfortable at times, but that is how we learn and move forward for a better Ohio,&#8217; he said.</p>
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Tone deaf! Republican state senator Steve Huffman, a trained physician, asks if ‘colored population is hit harder by coronavirus because they don’t wash their hands as often as other groups?’
