Bloomberg Equality: Being Black Is a Pre-Existing Condition

Being Black in America looks like a pre-existing condition putting a person at risk for a host of problems. If you map poverty, pollution and Covid-19 cases in Chicago and you'll get an outline of African-American neighborhoods in the city, Bloomberg CityLab reports. In Cleveland, site of Tuesday's presidential debate, similar disparities are in sharp relief: Children born in the poor Black neighborhood near the Cleveland Clinic are expected to live 22 fewer years than kids in a majority-White suburb nearby.

So what are solutions? Ahead of the debate on Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced at an event in Atlanta a "Platinum Plan for Black America," committing to bring in $500 billion in capital as well as raise health and education outcomes and create 3 million jobs. The bid to woo Black voters wasn't immediately cheered. "This event is a distraction from the fact Trump entered the political scene by denigrating our nation’s first African American president and has spent the last four years advancing anti-Black policies while fanning the flames of racism," Jamal Brown, a national press secretary for Biden’s campaign, said in a statement to Bloomberg. And, as CityLab reports, there is hardly enough detail in the plan to boo it, either. —Philip Gray