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Insight News

April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020

Vol. 47 No. 17• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Salute to seniors

Celebrating the

Class of 2020 Malaki-Milton Jackson, Wayzata High School

Page 2 • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Insight News

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Insight News • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020

Vol. 47 No. 17• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Distance learning will continue through end of current school year in Minnesota A day after announcing a statewide strategy for widespread testing, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz extended distance learning through the end of the school year, announced a plan for up to workers to return to their jobs and explained the different factors determining the gradual re-opening of Minnesota.

At his press conference today, Walz explained his approach for moving Minnesota forward amid COVID-19. Walz made clear the Stay Home order remains in effect as he and health officials consider ways to gradually loosen restrictions starting with settings most conducive to safe practices.

Given those considerations, Walz announced that distance learning will continue through the rest of the 2019-2020 school calendar year.

“As a former teacher, this is a heartbreaking decision,” Walz said. “I am sorry for all of our students who will miss out on graduations, tournaments, and end of year celebrations. While I recognize distance learning is a challenge for many families, it is critical to social distancing in Minnesota and supports the health of

Gov. Tim Walz Minnesota’s families. We will continue looking for ways to improve the current system and better support our children.”

“Distance learning has created new challenges for all of us, but especially students of color, Native-Americans, students in Greater Minnesota, students with disabilities and low-income families, among others,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. “Students are missing their friends and routines,

and families are struggling to work while helping their young learners. We can and must do more to ensure that every child is receiving the education they deserve and we will always put the safety and well-being of our families first.”

As he laid out his approach for gradually loosening restrictions on Minnesota businesses over time, Walz announced his decision to allow certain non-

critical businesses to safely return to work. Developed in partnerships with hundreds of businesses, labor and worker organizations, and public health experts, this action will allow 80,000-100,000 Minnesotans to return to work in industrial, manufacturing, and office settings on Monday (April 27).

“This is a limited first step in the process of safely reopening some businesses and returning Minnesotans to work,” said Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove. “We will continue to listen to and seek input from business and community leaders and work with public health experts on creative solutions to put more people back to work as safely and quickly as possible.”

Prior to loosening restrictions for a given setting, businesses must create, share, and implement a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan that sets out the actions they are taking to ensure social distancing, worker hygiene, and facility cleaning and disinfection necessary to keep workers safe, engage in health screening of employees and ensure that sick employees stay home and continue to work from home whenever possible.

Pictured, top row, left to right: CBC Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), , Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA).

Congressional Black Caucus and NNPA Demand Stimulus Inclusion

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Congressional Democrats reached an agreement with the Trump Administration on an interim coronavirus emergency relief package that provides support and fixes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), as well as increased funding for emergency disaster loans and grants, hospitals, health care providers and testing.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), without consulting Democrats, had initially tried to push through a bill that would have increased funding for PPP without providing any critical fixes to the program.

The GOP proposal would have done nothing to aid the most vulnerable small businesses and wouldn’t have provided any additional funding to our

health care system or testing.

Thanks to the efforts of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Democrats have secured $60 billion in new Small Business Administration PPP funding dedicated to small lenders and communitybased financial institutions.

They also secured $50 billion for the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which will allow approximately $300 billion in loans to small businesses.

Additionally, in large part because of the efforts of the CBC, Democrats have secured $10 billion for the SBA’s Emergency Economic Injury Grant program, $75 billion in emergency money for our health system and $25 billion to increase testing and contact tracing capabilities. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation.

“While this bill does not address all current needs of the coronavirus crisis, it is a major improvement and will

help millions of Americans and our frontline workers,” Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), said on a conference call with the Black Press of America on April 21. Under the leadership of CBC Chair Karen Bass (DCA), the CBC has been on the frontlines, and without us, there would be no one fighting for our communities.”

Beatty added that the CBC recognizes that more needs to be done. They will continue fighting for additional funding for working families and those who need it most in the next coronavirus package.

“Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) made sure that there was a carve-out in this package for small community banks and credit unions, which ensures that there’s an opportunity for them to take care of their customers,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (DNY).

“The EIDL program will benefit many small and African American businesses as we move forward.”

Rep. Robin Kelly

I2H

The American political and healthcare system is broken and corrupt

PAGE 5

(D-IL) said the Trump Administration has “proven time and again that we cannot trust them.” Kelly said the CBC continues to work to make sure that crucial data that includes race is collected during testing and tracing of the pandemic.

“Through this bill, we do target hospitals in some of the most needed areas, and as we focus on CARES part two, we need data to make the best policy decisions.

Lives are at stake, so we need to act quickly,” Kelly said.

Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) said the CBC has always understood that Black-owned and other small businesses “are the backbone of America.”

“We have constantly worked together to try and make things happen,” said Evans. “Under Karen Bass’ leadership, we all understood that the CBC was not going to leave our constituents out. It’s not possible to conduct business if people are not healthy and safe.”

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Gov. Tim Walz said a failure in testing is preventing the state from reopening.

Testing is the key to opening the state according the Gov. Walz

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor harry@insightnews.com With the backdrop of eight additional deaths, bringing the state’s total to 87, Gov. Tim Walz said he is encouraged that Minnesota is on the path to defeating the deadly COVID-19 virus.

But during his daily 2 p.m. press briefing, on April 15 Walz cautioned that the key to getting the state’s residents back to normal is testing – something he said is severely lacking.

“Testing is a major failure in this entire approach across the country,” said Walz, who said he would like to be able to test 5,000 residents daily, but a slow response from the federal government is hampering that goal.

And with testing an issue Minnesotans continue to suffer financially.

Unemployment insurance claims file in by the thousands in a state where prior to the COVID-19 crisis the unemployment rate was among the lowest in the nation. Some relief on that front, DEED Commissioner Joe Kelly announced a 13-week extension to those who have exhausted or are near exhausting their unemployment benefits – a number that totals nearly 8,000 people according to the commissioner. Kelly also encouraged self-employed workers to file for benefits

in anticipation of a measure passing that allows for selfemployed workers to receive unemployment benefits.

Walz also reminded those who qualify that enrollment for MNsure has been extended until April 21.

In normal years, today would be the deadline to file state and federal taxes, but that deadline has been extended to July 15. For those looking for their $1,200 COVID-19 relief payments they are encouraged to file their 2019 taxes as soon as possible. For those who have not filed for 2019 payments will be based off bank information the IRS has on file for filer’s 2018 income taxes. If someone did not file in 2018 or 2019, they can go to www.irs.gov/ coronavirus/economic-impactpayments to enroll.

As of today, Minnesota has recorded 1,809 COVID-19 cases. Of those, 197 remain hospitalized with 93 in intensive care. All of yesterday’s eight deaths came from long-term care facilities in the state. To date, 940 of the recorded Minnesotans to contract the deadly virus have recovered.

During the hourlong call with reporters Walz praised the work of a team at the University of Minnesota that created an FDA-approved desktop ventilator that can be used to assist critically ill patients who cannot breathe on their own. Walz said the team is also making its design available for use by other developers.

Mayo Clinic, U of M proclaim COVID-19 testing breakthrough Gov. Tim Walz, representatives of the state’s health care delivery systems, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota (U of M) announced a breakthrough for rapid, widespread testing of COVID-19 in Minnesota.

Standing together at the State’s Emergency Operations Center, they launched a statewide testing strategy to test all symptomatic people, isolate confirmed cases and expand public health surveillance tools. By building capacity to test as many as 20,000 Minnesotans per day, this increased testing and tracing will help improve control of this pandemic and support the safe re-opening of society.

Funded in part by $36 million from the COVID-19 Minnesota Fund, the partnership will establish capacity to deliver 20,000 molecular and 15,000 serology tests per day.

“This expanded testing capacity will be transformative to our COVID-19 response, especially for vulnerable populations; individuals living in congregate care settings or experiencing homelessness, communities of color and American Indians and critical workers,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. “By testing more people, we will build a better picture of how COVID-19 is impacting our state and how to combat it.”

Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm The partnership will help to identify and respond to emerging “hotspots” of infection. They will collect data on prevalence, geographic distribution, and barriers to care for the virus.

“Having this greatly increased testing capacity will improve our understanding of how COVID-19 is spreading in Minnesota, and will provide key data to inform our decisions about how to protect Minnesotans,” Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm said.

In partnership with Minnesota Department of Health, the Mayo Clinic and the U of M will create a central lab to accommodate the expanded testing and a virtual command center in coordination with the health systems to monitor daily testing needs and coordinate rapid responses to outbreaks.

News

Celebrating the Class of 2020

PAGE 7

Page 4 • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Insight News

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My Own Crisis Leadership Journey

Decisive leadership needed in this COVID19 Time of Crisis (part two) Culture and Education Editor

By Dr. Irma McClaurin How do I know about the need for decisive leadership?

Because I’ve been that leader at the helm of more than one crisis situation. The one I will discuss happened almost 10 years ago. On April 10, 2011, Raleigh, N.C. was flattened by tornadoes. Like COVID-19, it was an act out of our control and totally unpredictable.

At the time, I was president of Shaw University, but staying on the other side of town. Despite being hit by multiple tornadoes, I was safe, but knew I needed to get to campus. I drove from the safety of my area to Shaw on streets now pitch-black due to power outage. The headlights on my car helped me navigate a way back to ground zero – my campus situated just two blocks from the center of town.

Downtown Raleigh was in total darkness, even the hotels.

I had been on the phone cancelling an event scheduled for that night and urging the event’s planner to find security and get to safety. Start letting key people know the event was off. We did not want anyone to take any unnecessary risks when we thought it was just a bad storm. Only afterwards did we realize how badly we had been hit. But I had to make a decision quickly.

My second quick decision was telling our transportation director on the road with athletic teams or stay put and not return to campus.

They were safer outside Raleigh. But that left us with no buses. The tornadoes had blown the roof off Shaw’s Student Union while people were dining in it and blown out glass in dormitories windows. No one was injured, but our top priority was to keep students safe. We had limbs hanging from trees, shattered glass, an uprooted 100-year-old tree that got us on the Weather Channel, and one of its limbs just barely missing the roof of the library. Sheer luck had protected the campus from any fatalities.

Later, an insurance inventory would confirm 14 buildings had sustained damage and Shaw’s Student Union, which houses the cafeteria,

was uninhabitable. I had or make another quick decision to evacuate the campus. This is where relationships you have built as a leader kick in. With our buses unavailable and needing to move around 1,000 students, who were scared but not in a panic, I conferred with my executive staff on next steps and options. Making these decisions took place more than two hours.

We had to immediately weigh the pros and cons of every possible action right then and there.

Deliberations occurred, but they were done quickly – the safety of more than 1,000 students were depending on us to do the right thing. And even if it turned out to be wrong, we needed to do something. Waiting was not an option.

Leadership in action As a senior faculty, I educated hundreds of federal employees, representing agencies as diverse as the CIA, NASA, Department of Education, and FEMA, to name a few, on the difference between supervising, managing and leading (they are not interchangeable concepts).

When it turns out you are the smartest person in the room, don’t gloat, get another room. Leaders need to surround themselves with people more knowledgeable and willing to speak out against the grain, and against you. A leader with an executive staff that never opposes them is headed for trouble leadership paradise.

People have to be willing to challenge you or point out a different path. And leaders have to be willing to accept they might be wrong and pivot 180 degrees.

Best leadership decision I ever made My leadership decision to close Shaw a week following the disaster was not a rash one, though the president at another university publicly stated she thought I had made a mistake. She would later face heavy criticism from her own students on her campus for subjecting them to less than ideal conditions.

Why did I do it?

Simple calculus and experience.

The disaster struck just before Easter break. It made no sense for students to go home for break and then return to campus for a few weeks before the semester ended.

Drawing upon my experience as a parent, I knew that the glamour and

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fun of feeding students box lunches, having cook outs, and transporting them to another college campus for meals would soon wear off. Students do not like inconvenience.

I had to make a decision, and quickly. So, I closed down the campus. My logic was based on aspects of my identity as parent, as the calm one in a crisis, and as well as the highest-ranking administrator who was responsible for the safety of all I had concluded it was better that the students be safe at home under the watchful eyes of their parents, relatives, or friends, then risk someone getting hurt by all the debris. I had to consider the institutional liability issues alongside the safety of students and staff. Case in point. I recall the late Kate Hagen visiting the campus and holding a press conference on Shaw’s campus. I stood next to her and held my breath because she was standing near a tree where the branch looked as if it would break off and fall on her head any minute. I could not disrupt the press conference, but that moment solidified for me that I had made the right decision. Remove all innocents before anyone got hurt.

This disaster period taught me a lot about leadership, about myself and decisionmaking, about my ability to lead under fire, and what it takes to manage a crisis over which you have little control.

Leadership lessons learned When becoming certified in Leadership and Resilience, Dr. George Everly, Jr. told us that resilient leaders must answer only four questions before taking action. What is the worst thing that can happen if I do, what is the best thing that can happen if I do, what is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t; and what is the best thing that can happen of I don’t?

Once you’ve mulled over the answers, it’s time to step up and do something.

Leadership is not about having your stuff together or showing how smart you are.

That’s been verified because they selected you to be the top one in charge. But leadership is a lonely and vulnerable place at the top. Always have a good attorney in your back pocket who can write you a brilliant leadership clause that includes a buy-out for no cause. Leadership can be like a revolving door.

Also, leadership is about accountability. The buck always stops at the top. It really doesn’t matter who you

Leadership is not about having your stuff together or showing how smart you are. That’s been verified because they selected you to be the top one in charge. delegated to get the job done, you are paid the big bucks and carry the title of “leader” to be held accountable – no finger pointing at someone else. It’s your responsibility for whatever happens.

Boom! drop the mic It’s easy to lead when all is quiet and status quo. When there are no troubled waters, being a leader is as easy as eating pie or ice cream. However, when there is a crisis at hand, that is when true leadership shows up.

A leader will be attacked for the decisions he or she makes, no matter her how thoughtful they may be.

Having a thick skin is part of the leadership dress code.

It ain’t personal, though personal traits will be under assault. And, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the leadership kitchen.

Now, when I see leaders managing a crisis, I initially have the utmost sympathy. I know first-hand that making decisions in a crisis is not easy, and there is often a demand for spontaneity. In a crisis, a leader must strike a balance between acting too hastily and not acting at all.

There is a lot of weighing the pros and cons and trying to predict long-term consequences that must be part of a leader’s decision-making process. But there is no time to linger or have doubts. Also, being in denial (or waffling) about whether a situation is critical to warrant immediate action actually can create more confusion and do more harm than good.

American leadership in the 21st century: Who’s on first?

Of late, America

seems more and more preoccupied with leadership and decision-making. The arrival of COVID-19 has garnered our attention. As swiftly as this virus moved and infected thousands of people around the world, we now recognize that we needed leaders could think and act as quickly as the virus. In this respect, the current president has failed us. Failing to act swiftly, he seemed locked into a Three Stooges monologue about “who’s on first, what’s on second, and I don’t know is heading for third.”

At the same time, despite major faux paus by President Trump and his administration in their initial reluctance to acknowledge the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and its potential harm to American citizens and this economy, the 45th’s persistent denials, and unwillingness to take action sooner than later, is killing even those who voted for him remain steadfast in their support. In other words, despite his flaws (and possibly, because of them that include egocentricity, pettiness, bullying, coupled with a very bad case of narcissism and megalomania) they have given him unconditional license to flaunt authority, threaten, and fire those who disagree. His leadership lesson is clear. “I am in control and don’t give a hoot about what the world thinks – especially the American people, because I am smarter than all of them.”

So my question for the American people is this. How many people have to die before there is public recognition and outcry over the fact that the man who sits behind the title

“President of the United States of America,” and has our fate in his hands, is not only an idiot, as evidenced by his chronic use of Twitter to disseminate policy and misinformation, but is also is a very poor leader who is in denial in crisis situations?

The United States of America is in a current state of social and economic crisis, and the leader at the helm is a man who always believes he is right and fires anyone who disagrees with his decisions, no matter how wrong they may be.

As I said at the beginning, when a leader thinks he or she is the smartest person in the room, then he or she needs to find another room. This means that if we are smart leaders, we should surround ourselves with people who will challenge us and who are smarter than us.

In the November 2020 elections, let’s help President Donald Trump find another room –corporate or otherwise – to preside over. We should not reward poor presidential leadership with another four years in power. Vote him out. If not, the next crisis that surfaces, America may do even worse than what’s happening now with COVID-19. ©2020 McClaurin Solutions Irma McClaurin (www.irmamcclaurin.com) is the Culture and Education Editor at Insight News. An activist anthropologist and award-winning writer, she also speaks and conducts workshops on a range of topics that include social and educational inequality; diversity, equity and inclusiveness and the state of Black women in America.

Friendship Academy of the Arts live-streams virtual #MyFriendShovel ‘groundbreaking’ ceremony Vibrant photos of scholars, faculty and administrators in hard hats and holding shovels, are generating excitement as the Friendship Academy of the Arts prepares for a Friday live-streamed virtual groundbreaking ceremony.

Live and recorded stories – all online –replaced the standard speeches by dignitaries and musical performances associated with groundbreaking ceremonies.

Friendship Academy of the Arts (Academy) leadership put their heads together and devised a plan to still hold the groundbreaking for the new location, and landed on the #MyFriendShovel campaign, which was live-streamed April 17 on the Academy’s website and on Facebook Live.

Administrators, faculty, scholars and their families watched from their homes to see photos of themselves as virtual shovels “lift” dirt for the August opening of the building – just in time for the 2020-2021 academic year.

The new Minneapolis facility is located at 3320 41st Ave. S. “We puzzled over how to involve the scholars, who are studying from home, in a virtual groundbreaking ceremony. We brainstormed and came up with the #MyFriendShovel concept.

The scholars and teachers loved the idea and they’ve really enjoyed creating their shovels and hardhats, taking photos, and sharing them with their teachers,” said Dr. Charvez Russell, Friendship Academy of the Arts executive director.

The Academy leadership indicated that once state officials ordered all Minnesota schools to close, it was critical to maintain the academic momentum with scholars.

“We instituted distance learning immediately and ensured all of our scholars had devices to work with,” said Russell. “We identify as, and want to remain, a relationship-based school, especially through these tough times. That’s why, in the midst of this pandemic, we’re moving forward with our ‘groundbreaking’ and building our new facility.”

Academy leadership also say they’ve learned through weekly surveys, that parents, guardians and families appreciate the “seamless, uninterrupted” transition to distance learning for the scholars.

Recognized as the only Blue-Ribbon School in Minneapolis, the Academy is applying its wholistic, relationship-based approach, by expanding its meal program for the school’s highneed families. These families now receive breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner packages.

Stringent social distancing policies are in place for families to pick up the meals outside the school. For those without transportation, the meals are delivered to homes, and left on doorsteps.

Administrators also implemented daycare services for the children of physicians, nurses, EMTs, and others serving on the frontlines

Friendship Academy of the Arts’ 3rd grader Samarion Washington, 8, with his shovel simulates breaking ground on the school’s new site, 3320 41st Ave. S. during

the pandemic.

Friendship Academy draws students from across Minneapolis and St. Paul, in addition to the surrounding suburbs of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park and Plymouth.

The fall online enrollment launches April

20.

Families interested in learning more about enrolling their children at the Friendship Academy of the Arts or the #MyFriendShovel campaign may go to www. f r i e n d s h i p a c a d e m y. o r g / enrollment or call (612) 8796703.

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Insight News • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Page 5

Insight 2 Health

The American political and healthcare system is broken and corrupt Commentary by Roger Caldwell NNPA Newswire Contributor “History is bound to repeat itself. Look at what went wrong in 1918 (Spanish Flu). Then do the opposite,” said a program on the History Channel.

President Woodrow Wilson was the American President in 1918 when 675,000 Americans died as a result of the Spanish Flu and more than 20 to 50 million people died around the world. This pandemic happened 100 years ago, and a lack of leadership from the federal government helped the flu spread like wildfire.

President Woodrow Wilson took no decisive measures with a coordinated federal plan and gaps were filled at the state and local level. There was a general lack of preparedness and the public health infrastructure was inadequate with no leadership and organization. Public officials lied, made up facts and 25 percent of the military personnel who had the flu, infected the citizens around the country.

The flu started in March 1918 and the second wave came in the fall, when the majority of Americans died.

This mysterious strain of the flu happened during the end of World War I and moving lots of men and materials in crowded conditions contributed to the spread of the virus. America and

iStockphoto/NNPA

In the African-American community, the coronavirus is exposing systemic racism with frightening numbers. In Chicago, the Black population is 29 percent but 70 percent of the people dying from the virus are Black. In Louisiana, the Black population is 32 percent but 70 percent of the people dying from the virus are Black.

nations around the globe refused to lockdown their countries and the flu spread rapidly.

“The chaotic culture of the Trump White House contributed to the (current COVID-19) crisis. A lack of planning and a failure to execute, combined with the president’s focus on the news cycle and his preference for following his gut rather than the data cost time and perhaps lives,” said Eric Lipton of the New York Times.

The 1918 pandemic lasted one year and there were three different waves where the majority of people died.

In order for the 2020 pandemic to end in America, the entire country must be shutdown in every state and the president must place large-scale

orders for masks, protective equipment, critical hospital equipment, ventilators and community leaders educating their constituents. This is not a time for “happy talk.” The Coronavirus Task Force must enforce the quarantine with military forces and local police.

China started its lockdown on Jan. 23 and by the beginning of March, the country was starting to open back up. They were able to get infected cases to low levels, and the United States must follow the same course of action. The population practiced social distancing and the government was able to test on a wide scale.

HEALTHCARE 6

Doctors facing grim choice over ventilators told to put patients with disabilities at the back of the line

By Deborah Hellman Professor of Law, University of Virginia As cases related to the novel coronavirus continue to strain hospitals, doctors face difficult choices about rationing scarce medical resources like ventilators – choices that will likely determine who lives and who dies.

Several states’ policies tell providers to allocate scarce resources to those most likely to benefit. For example, Washington state recently adopted a policy that favors “the survival of young otherwise healthy patients more heavily than that of older, chronically debilitated patients.” Similar new guidelines have been issued in Massachusetts as well.

In several other states, existing policies that were developed in anticipation

of an emergency – including pandemics – recommend rationing that prioritizes giving ventilators to otherwise healthy people who are most likely to benefit. The policies may be mandatory in some contexts, depending on state law, but are likely to be influential even when not required.

While seemingly sensible, policies that focus exclusively on saving as many lives as possible may miss something just as important about whose life is spared and whose is not.

As a scholar who studies the law and ethics of discrimination, I know that what matters morally and legally is not only the benefits and harms of a policy, but also who gets affected the most.

In this case, people with existing chronic illnesses or disabilities are most likely to be denied lifesaving treatment

John Moore/Getty Images

With a large number of patients with COVID-19, doctors face difficult choices. by state protocols on medical rationing.

Who gets the ventilator

The Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, is the main law that protects the disabled from discrimination.

It applies to two types of discrimination: policies that

explicitly exclude disabled people and policies that have the effect of excluding disabled people, even if unintentionally.

For example, the state of Alabama had a policy adopted in 2010 which explicitly excluded people with

VENTILATORS 6

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Page 6 • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Insight News

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The Minneapolis Foundation releases report on education equity in the age of COVID-19 Recognizing that the COVID-19 crisis stands to widen opportunity gaps in Minnesota’s school system, The Minneapolis Foundation released a new report on education equity in a time of distance learning.

“Implementing Principles of Reimagine Education in a Period of Remote Teaching and Learning: Education Equity in the Age of COVID-19” includes researchbased insights for educators, actions for policy makers, and practical tips for parents.

“The pandemic has disrupted ‘normal’ for every school in America, and the move to remote learning is posing huge challenges for everyone,” said R.T. Rybak, president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation.

“Yet it’s also true that a ‘return

Healthcare From 5 At this point, America’s testing process has failed, with testing of less than 1 percent of the population completed. There is no vaccine and more healthcare

Ventilators From 5 intellectual disabilities, stating that “persons with severe mental retardation, advanced dementia or severe traumatic brain injury” will not be given ventilators in the event of scarcity.

Disability rights groups filed a complaint about this with the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, which on April 8, 2020 determined that the policy should not be used and the guideline has been withdrawn as a result.

But just because policies don’t explicitly single out people with disabilities does not mean that they won’t have the

to normal’ is not what we’re aiming for—not if that means that you can still predict a child’s education and life outcomes by knowing their race and ZIP code. Day by day, COVID-19 threatens to widen opportunity gaps that Minnesotans have fought long and hard to close in our education system. In this report, you’ll find direction from many Minnesota homegrown experts, community members, and school leaders whose viewpoints were incorporated into this work.”

The new report complements an earlier one issued last fall, “Expanding the Vision of Reimagine Minnesota,” which provides overviews of current research and practical recommendations for collective action to ensure

that all students receive an equitable, integrated and excellent education.

Both reports were commissioned by The Minneapolis Foundation and produced by a team of researchers led by Dr. Michael Rodriguez at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development.

Both reports build on a body of work that has been led since 2016 by school superintendents with the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, with input from students, parents, cultural representatives, business leaders and other community members.

Read the complete report at www. minneapolisfoundation.org/ reimagine-2/.

workers are getting infected with the virus with no time off. Before the country can be opened, there must be widespread testing and a national database of cases to prevent the spread of the virus.

With nearly 900,000 thousand Americans infected as of April 23 with the virus, and the most citizens to die in any country – almost 50,000 – the

political and healthcare system is broken. Instead of the pandemic slowing down, it is speeding up and rapidly growing.

In the AfricanAmerican community, the coronavirus is exposing systemic racism with frightening numbers. In Chicago, the Black population is 29 percent but 70 percent of the people dying

from the virus are Black. In Louisiana, the Black population is 32 percent but 70 percent of the people dying from the virus are Black. In other cities, like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Detroit and Dallas, there are alarming numbers that indicate health disparities are killing more Blacks.

No one will save

Blacks but us. However, Black leaders must sound the alarm.

When America gets a cold, Black people get pneumonia.

There is a failure of leadership with President Donald Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence managing and running the Coronavirus Task Force.

They have done a terrible job, lying to Americans, with a

general lack of preparedness.

There is glaring incompetency in Trump’s handling of the crisis, and the failure of testing has spread the virus. As our president continues to fabricate the truth at every daily briefing, don’t believe anything President Trump promises.

effect of excluding people with disabilities from lifesaving care.

Many state policies direct that when medical supplies are scarce, they should go to the people who are most likely to survive. For example, New York’s ventilator allocation guidelines, which were set up in 2015 in anticipation of a potential influenza pandemic, state that ventilators should be given to patients who are “deemed most likely to survive with ventilator therapy.”

Indeed, doing so will save the most lives. But this policy will mean that people with chronic health conditions or disabilities will have a very hard time getting ventilators if their underlying conditions give them less of a chance of survival.

This leads to the question of whether it is fair for individuals with disabilities

to have a lesser chance of getting lifesaving medical treatment, even though there are laws that ensure equality of access for them.

To be sure, not all people with disabilities will be affected by this kind of policy.

Someone who is blind and has no other underlying condition may have the same likelihood of survival as someone who is not.

But people with many types of disabilities, especially those that compromise their lungs or other organs, will suffer more than others.

voting and others, in ways that were both “outright intentional exclusion” and also the result of neglect. In that regard, Congress specifically discussed the difficulty that people with disabilities experience in gaining access to health services.

The ADA requires states and hospitals to take affirmative steps to level the playing field so that disabled people are treated equally. For example, the ADA requires architectural changes such as ramps so that people can get into buildings; it also requires organizations to modify the way they provide their services.

However, the ADA only requires these steps if doing so is “reasonable,” a term that is defined differently by courts in different situations.

In this new and difficult context in which

lifesaving ventilators are scarce, the task, then, is to determine what is reasonable.

On the one hand, more lives will be saved by a policy that gives priority to patients who are most likely to survive.

On the other, this same policy will mean that the disabled will be overrepresented among those who do not get ventilators.

Both facts about the policy are important, as Kate Nicholson, a disability rights attorney formerly with the U.S. Department of Justice, and I argue in a new paper. In this paper, we explain that state policies that prioritize saving the most lives don’t consider who bears the brunt of the loss of life.

Some groups, as a result, suffer more than others.

for deaths and hospitalizations are shifting, it may be that for now we can avoid difficult choices, as there may be enough ventilators to go around.

But questions regarding who gets lifesaving treatment may well recur if this virus returns or a new one surfaces. So it is critically important to think seriously about what a “reasonable” balance is between saving the most lives and making sure that this loss of life isn’t mostly felt by people with disabilities and others who are already socially disadvantaged.

That balance must not compound discrimination on disadvantage, as civil rights protections prohibit.

Kate Nicholson, a civil rights and disability rights attorney and advocate, contributed to this piece.

What

the law says When Congress passed the ADA, it stated categorically that disabled people have been excluded from all aspects of society, including employment, housing, education, transportation,

A ‘return to normal’ is not what we’re aiming for – not if that means that you can still predict a child’s education and life outcomes by knowing their race and ZIP code.

How

can we be fair?

As new projections

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Insight News • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Page 7

Celebrating the Class of 2020 For the Class of 2020 there will be no graduation.

Well at least not as we have come to know the traditional rite of passage.

COVID-19 changed all that.

Valedictorians and class presidents will present their addresses not from a stage, but instead the platform of social media. When names are called there won’t be a handshake line with a pause at the end for a

posed photo. That tradition may never return.

So much was lost to the Class of 2020 … both high school and college. Entire sports seasons were cancelled. Winter sports champions were never crowned. The Class of 2020 will miss out on the traditions of yearbook signing and senior pranks. Prom was cancelled.

There won’t be the hugs with classmates and family members

and the all-night post-graduation lock-ins. There won’t be the wiping away of one another’s joyful tears.

But the Class 2020 deserves recognition – maybe more so than any other class of recent years. Thus, Insight News has dedicated this edition of the paper to the Class of 2020.

Students take a bow. You earned it.

Cheo Trotter, Eden Prairie Senior High School

Cierra Carter, Johnson High School

Dacion Francis, Armstrong Senior High School

Darren King Jr., St. Paul Central

Equàija Triplett, Armstrong High School

Ja’Hyia (Ju) Gaston, Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

JaShawna Baker, Como Park Senior High School

Nitara G. Williams, St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists

Page 8 • April 27, 2020 - May 3, 2020 • Insight News

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Class of 2020

Makayla Martin, Thomas Jefferson High School

Kingston Thomas, Champlain Park High School

Namir Fearce, University of Illinois- Chicago, BFA Matthew N. Seawood, DeLaSalle High School

Tavian Walker, Fridley High School Shah Hasan Jr, Fridley High School

Elijah Moore, Johnson Senior High School

Anaja Griffin -McNeal, Brooklyn Center High School

Nevaeh Marie Redmond, Washburn High School

Jaliya Davis, Eden Prairie High School

Tiffany Coleman, The Fair School, Downtown