"Fighting the coronavirus isn’t only a matter of public health. It is a matter of civil rights." (Photo: State of Michigan)
Michigan's governor continues climbing the roller coaster of national politics. She's up this week with a Washington Post profile and a bylined guest column in The New York Times.
The Post reports Monday on Gretchen Whitmer's "turbulent rise" in a 2,200-word display with facts already in evidence for home-state observers, so we jump to the op-ed published Wednesday.
The governor's commentary Tuesday.
The Democratic vice presidential prospect says the federal government is "undermining my fight against" the pandemic and racism:
A text [last Friday] brought news that I never expected: The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in Washington had just filed a 17-page document asking the federal courts to strip me of my powers to protect the people of my state from Covid-19.
As cities boiled over with anger at racially targeted policing, the Justice Department argued that the true victims were carwashes and a jewelry store. Their closures were "arbitrary" and "oppressive." ...
After a string of federal failures — botched testing, buried safety guidelines, irresponsible recommendations and funding threats — the Trump administration was actively working to stop me from taking the actions my public health officials have told me are necessary to save lives. ... The Civil Rights Division was now trying to impede my efforts to fight a virus that has ripped through communities of color. ...
Fighting the coronavirus isn't only a matter of public health. It is a matter of civil rights.
Even as the White House works to undermine my efforts, the courts have signaled that they will not support lawsuits meant to strip governors of their powers to fight the virus. ...
Whatever the Department of Justice may think, the story of Covid-19 is a story about the historical legacy of racism in our country.
