06/02/21 06/02/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: my fellow americans, this was not a riot. this was a massacre. [applause] pres. biden: among the worst in our history. amy: president biden visits tulsa, oklahoma, to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the deadliest race massacres in the

nation's history when a white mob attacked a tulsa neighborhood, dubbed black wall street, killing an estimated 300 african americans. we will hear part of biden's remarks anspeak to duke professor william darity, a leading scholar on reparations, about biden's proposals to close the racial wealth gap. >> there is a tendency in this cotry to grossly underestima the size of the black-white alth gap. folks are t typicay aware thdifference in neork between the average black and white household is approximately $840,000. amy: plus, we will look at the link between mass shootings and domestic violence. >> t nexus of guns, domestic violence puts won and ultimately all of us at tremendo risk. women in the u.s. are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun and women in other high income countries.

amy: and we will at how the sports world is addressing mental health issues as tennis superstar naomi osaka withdraws from the french open after being fined for refusing to take part in news conferences due to their effect on her mental health. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. president biden spoke in tulsa, oklahoma, yesterday on the 100th anniversary of the tulsa race massacre, one of the single greatest acts of terror in u.s. history a white mob burned down what was known as black wall street, the thriving african-american neighborhood of greenwood, killing an estimated 300 people. this is president biden. pres. biden: while darkness can hide much, it erases nothing. it erases nothing.

some injustices are so horrific, so grievous, they cannot be buried no matter how hard people try. and so it is here, only the truth can come healing and justice and repair. amy: biden also announced he was charging vice president kamala harris with leading the federal push to protect ting right he took aim at senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema for the lack of congressional action on voting rights. pres. biden: i hear all of the folks on tv saying, why doesn't biden get this done? well, because biden has effectively only four votes in the house and a and in the senate with two members of the senate who vote more with my republican friends. amy: also on tuesday, the white house announced measures to narrow the racial wealth gap by addressing housing discrimination and supporting distances and infrastructure in

communities of color. we will have more on this after headlines with duke university professor william darity. a group of over 100 scholars of democracy released a joint statement calling for president biden and congress to take action in the face of mounting attacks on voting rights from republicans. the letter, published by the think tank new america, comes two days after texas democrats staged a walkout sunday night to block a sweeping voter suppression bill. the scholars say that in addition to passing a new voting rights act, lawmakers also need to address partisan gerrymandering and regulate ethics and money in politics. the biden administration has formally terminated the contested trump-era migrant protection protocols, also known as remain in mexico. the 2019 policy forced some 68,000 asylum ekers to wait in often dangerous conditions in mexico while their cases made their way through u.s. courts. the biden administration says about 11,000 asylum seekers who were enrolled in mpp have been

allowed into the u.s. since january. immigrant justice groups celebrated the news but have vowed to hold the administration accountable. the aclu said -- "now the biden administration must ensure that everyone who was subjected to this policy can pursue their asylum claims in the u.s. biden must also dismantle trump's other attacks on the asylum system." in other immigration news organizations are demanding the , biden administration and migration customs enforcement to stop its use of gps-tracking ankle monitor's and face recognition. there was a panel on technology and immigration practices tuesday. this is hancinta gonzález, addressing the governments use of technogy on the border. >> you see time and time again the same companies -- raytheon, northrop grumman -- they are

claiming technology at the border b the same cpanies were fried for dades. now they're seeing this as the new frontier, the new way make an investmen and the border -- we might think the border is just one line that spans a couple of miles, but it is most of the united states. on they start to introduce this technology in t 100 miles around the border in our airpor come in different ports of entry, this weight becomes normalized and starts to trickle down to local police departments. amy: king county, washington state's most populous county which includes the city of seattle and the headquarters of amazon and microsoft, has voted to ban the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement and other agencies. peters the first such county-wide ban. -- it's the first such county-wide ban. king county councilmember jeanne kohl-welles celebrated the unanimous vote, saying -- "the use of facial recognition

technology by government agencies poses distinct threats to our residents, including potential misidentification, bias, and the erosion of our civil liberties." the biden administration is suspending oil and gas leases in alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge that were issued in the final weeks of the trump administration. the interior department said the trump leasing program wasn't properly reviewed for its environmental impacts. the move comes a week after the biden administration defended a massive oil and gas project in northern alaska known as the "willow master project." environmental and indigenous groups are suing the government in an attempt to stop the multibillion-dollar deal with nocophillips, which was approved last year by the trump administration. groups say the project, which is set to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years, will disrupt fragile wildlife and contribute to the climate crisis. in afghanistan, three bomb blasts killed at least 10 people in the capital kabul tuesday.

one explosion caused a power outage after it damaged an electric grid station. the latest deadly attacks come amid stalled intra-afghan peace talks and as the u.s. continues its withdrawal, which is scheduled to be completed by september 11. sri lanka is facing a major environmental disaster as a burning cargo ship carrying chemicals sinks off its west coast, spewing tons of possibly toxic plastic debris onto its coastline. authorities have been battling the fire since it erupted on may 20. scientists warn wildlife and sensitive ecosystems are at risk as far away as the other end of the island nation. the world health organization has listed china's sinovac covid vaccine for emergency use, making it the eighth vaccine to receive the approval and the second for china after sinopharm. the vaccine is already in use in a number of countries, but the who listing means it can now also be distributed to poorer nations as part of the covax program.

meanwhile, the world bank is urging the u.s. to immediately free up excess doses of their covid-19 vaccine supply to send to latin america. the who said the region remains one of the worst affected in the world. >> eight of the top 10 countries reporting the highest mortality rate per population in the last three cap in front the region of the americas and particularly south america. south american countries represent four of the top 10 countries globally just in case incidents in the last week. amy: in the democratic republic of congo, officials say covid-19 has killed at least 32 lawmakers -- over 5% of its parliament. low levels of testing have made it difficult to get a clear picture of the true toll of the pandemic in the conflict-ravaged country of over 86 million. in a major milestone, britain -- once the epicenter of the pandemic -- announced no covid deathsuesd for the fst

time since july of last year. back in the united states, florida has become the largest state to impose a ban on transgender women and girls in school sports. republican governor ron de santis signed the bill tuesday, the first day of pride month. at least six other states, all with republican governors, have passed similar laws. the aclu's chase strangio notes more anti-trans bills have become law in 2021 than in the previous 10 years combined. meanwhile, president biden issued a proclamation recognizing june as pride month and vowed to fight for lgbtq rights. jbs, the world's largest meat producer, says it will reopen the majority of its plants today after it was hit with a cyberattack over the weekend, forcing it to shut down slaughterhouses in the u.s., including all of its beef plants, as well as in other countries. the white house says the ransomware attack likely originated from a criminal organization based in russia.

in new mexico, democratic state representative melanie stansbury defeated republican state senator mark moores in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by interior secretary deb haaland. the democrats now hold 220 seats in the house and republicans, 211, with four seats vacant. stansbury, who previously worked in the obama administration, has backed progressive policies including medicare for all and the green new deal. and in puerto rico, unions are planning a general strike thursday in response to the privatization of the island's power system. labor leaders are demanding the cancellation of a contract with the private u.s. and canadian company luma energy, which formally took over the management of puerto rico's electric grid yesterday from prepa, which was crippled by hurricane maria. unions have warned the agreement with luma will increase the cost of electricity, displace thousands of workers, and allow

the company to leave the island if a hurricane hits. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzalez from new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: president biden traveled to tulsa, oklahoma, tuesday to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1921 tulsa race massacre -- one of the single greatest acts of racist terror in u.s. history. over a span of 18 hours, a white mob burned down what was known as black wall street -- the thriving african american neighborhood of greenwood in also. an estimated 300 african americans were killed. on tuesday, biden became the first u.s. president to visit tulsa on the anniversary to honor the victims and the few remaining survivors. biden recounted the horror that

took place 100 years ago. pres. biden: in the morning, came up terrorized greenwood with torches and guns, shooting at will. a mob tied a black man by the waste to the back of their truck with his head banging along the pavement as they drove off. a murdered a black family draped over the fence of their home outside. a couple notes by their bread praying to god with our heart and soul when they were shot in the back of their heads. private planes dropping explosives. the first and only domestic aerial assault of its kind on an american city, here in tulsa. eight of greenwood's nearly two dozen churches burned like mount zion across the street. mother randall said it was like

a war. mother fletcher says, all these yearsater she still sees black bodies around 100 years ago. at this hour, on this first day of june, smoke darkened the tulsa sky, rising for 35 blocks of greenwood left ash and amber. less than 24 hours -- less than 24 hours, 1100 black homes and businesses work lost. insurance companies rejected claims of damage. 10,000 people were left destitute and homeless. placed in internment camps. as i was told today, they were told, "don't you mention you were ever in a camp where we will, get you." i fellow americans, this was not

a riot. this was a massacre. amy: that is president biden speaking in tulsa, oklahoma, tuesday. biden was marking the 100th anniversary of the 1921 tulsa race massacre. he went on to describe how the economic fallout from the massacre is still felt today. pres. biden: imagine i thriving greenwood for the last 100 years . that would have meant for all of tulsa, including the white community. the people of ringwood rebuild, he did not last. eventually, neighborhoods were redlined on maps, blocking black tulsa out of homeownership. highway built through the heart of the community. amy: president biden speaking on tuesday in tulsa. the white house also announced to narrow the racial wealth gap by addressing housing

discrimination and supporting businesses and infrastructure in communities of color. to talk more about the centennial of the 1921 tulsa race massacre and the biden administration's calls to address the racial wealth gap, we are joined by william darity, professor of economics, public policy and african american studies at duke university. co-author of the book "from here to equality: reparations for black americans in the twenty-first century." professor, welcome to democracy now! it is an honor to have you with us. can you talk about the significance of the president going to tulsa, acknowledging the race massacre, and then talking about closing the racial wealth gap, what that means? >> i think it is very impressive that a sitting amerin president actually took the time and made a very powerful statement by going to tulsa,

oklahoma, and reporting an accurate story about the atrocity that took place there. that i think is extremely impresve and the most important dimension of his visit to tulsa yesterday. on the other hand, i am extremely skeptical about the consequences of the types of proposals that he brought forward for actually addressing the enormous racial wealth gap that exists in the united states today. we need something much more potent and much more substantial than the array of policies that he mentioned yesterday. juan: professor, could you explain why you need something more substantial or why something more substantial is needed? how do the president's

proposals, especially in terms of addressing inequities and home appraisals or contracting or eliminating old trump-era housing rules is not sufficient? >> we need to be aware of how large the gap is in wealth between blacks and whites in the united states. the average black household has a network that is $840,000 less than the average white household. a corresponding fact that is associated with this condition is the black pulation of the united states that is descended from persons who are enslaved here is about 12% of the nation's overall population, but that is a community that possesses less than 2% of the nation's wealth. so if we were going to bring the share of black wealth into consistency with the share of the black population, it would require an expenditure of at least $11 trillion.

as a consequence, when we think about any set of policies or any individual policy that is alleged to close the racial wealth gap, we have to ask whether or not it is going to bring this anyway close toward eliminating an 11 trillion dollar deficit. i would like to argue with the president proposed yesterday will do very little in terms of getting us there. let me talk specifically about the homeownership emphasis of the policies he proposed. and i certainly am highly enthusiastic about the idea of eliminating discrimination in home appraisals, but homeownership in and of itself is not something that can be augmented sufficiently to erase the racial wealth difference. i think we have a tendency to overestimate the significance of homeownership alone as a component of an individual's total array of assets.

if we look at the average american's portfolio, we find homeownership specifically ownership in a primary residence, is about 25% of all of the assets that an individual might possess. the other 75% includes business ownership, retirement accounts, financial assets like stocks and bonds, and nonresidential real estate. so if we focus exclusively on homeownership, ownership and a primary residence, we will be ignoring thesether components of the asset package. it is also interesting to note white non-homeowners have 31 times the median wealth of black non-homeowners. homeownership is not the whole package of things. so as a consequence, i think we need to have a much wider focus on the full array of assets that people can potentially possess.

and i recommend that the way in which we close the racial wealth gap is by literally closing the racial wealth gap by providing black american descendants of u.s. slavery with a level of funds adequate to eliminate the racial wealth gap and let them make a decision about how to spend those funds in terms of the array of assets they would like to possess. juan: i want to ask you, in terms of reparations, clearly, a decade or two decades ago, that was considered a pipe dream. could you talk about increasin support among white americans who bore reparations? also, you mentioned a couple of times those african-americans descended from slavery. clearly, there's a significant proportion of the blood population of the u.s. that has immigrant origins, whether that is from jamaica, barbados, nigeria, ethiopia, sudan,

panama, and so forth. so your view of reparations would specifically deal with only black americans descended from slavery, am i correct? >> i think the term "only"s misleading insofar as proximately 10% of the current black population in the united states is from families of recent immigration. 90% of the black american population consists of individuals who have an ancestor -- at least one ancestor who was enslaved in the united states. that 90% corresponds to approximately 40 milli people. it is not an "only." but indeed, the position i take is that a reparations plan for afcan-americans should b specific to those indiduals who have ancestors who were enslaved in the united states because it is that community

that has experienced the accumulative intergenerational effects of federal policies that have built white wealth to the detriment of black wealth. in the book you mentioned that kirsten mullen and i wrote, we actually talk about various phases in american history in which the federal government either actively or passively supported white wealth accumulation while it denied black amerins opportunity to accumulate wealth. one of these is what we referred to as the wagon train period, which is the period of homesteading which occurs conterminous with the civil war and the end of the civil war. that is the period in which black amerans who had bee formally enslaved were promised 40 acre land grants as restitution for their years of bondage. and that promise was never met. but at the same time, the

federal government was providing 160 acre land grants to upwards of 1.5 million white families in the western territories as the country completed its colonial settler project, and that allotion of land has ramifications for the wealth differential that we observe today. the scholar trina says there are 45 million living white americans who are beneficiaries of the homestead acts. so that is the beginning of the racial wealth gap and it concerns a federal policy that provided essentially lan handouts to white americans while black americans who had been enslaved for multiple generations received absolutely nothing. amy: during a news briefing tuesday aboard air force one, white house deputy press secretary karine jean-pierre was asked if president biden

supports reparations for the families of the victims of the tulsa massacre. @@>> president biden believes we have to take steps right now to fight systemic racism things like fighting redlining, supporting funding for underfunded schools that are too often located in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods. he also supports the study of reparations but believes first and foremost the task in front of us is not -- is to root out systemic racism where it exists right now, and that is why it is essential to all -- amy: that is the deputy press secretary. professor, could you comment specifically about tulsa? you spoke with national geographic that looked at how the savings of a lifetime were reduced to ashes in tulsa. they even bombed black wall street. >> the president actually

referred to private planes being utilized for the purposes of dropping incendiary devices on the greenwood district. actually, these were decommission world war ii -- world war i airplanes. triply speaking, they were not entirely private planes. once again, the federal government had at least an implit hand in the tulsa massacre. i think what we have to look at is horrific as the tulsa massacre was, it was not the only massacre that took place in the united states. between the end of the civil war into the 1940's, there were upwards of 100 of these massacres that took place north and south, east and west. tulsa is the one that most familiar to us now, although, it was suppressed as a story for many, many years. i live in the state of north carolina.

in 1898, there was a massacre that took place in wilmington, north carolina, that was essentially a municipal coup d'état were comparable numbers of people were killed and as a consequence, a thriving black business district that existed in that city also was destroyed. i would say across these 100 massacres, the consequences have been palpable in terms of the destruction and appropriation of property that had been accumulated by black americans. in that national geographic report, to which i was one of the individuals who was a consultant, the estimate has been arrived at that the present value of the property loss to black tulsans in 1920 one is approximately $610 million. juan: could you talk about examples of reparations that

could serve as a model if the country finally did move to reparations for african-americans? >> certainly. the most obvious intertional example or example external to the united states is the german reparations payments to victims of the holocaust. but we have an excellent homegrown example of a reparations plan that involved direct payments to the victimized community. the 1988 civil liberties act at provided $20,000 payments to each of the japanese-americans who had been incarcerated unjustly during the course of world war ii. there are other examples, instances in which the u.s. government was not the culpable party but still aecision was made to provide restitution. one of these examples is the

paymen that were made to t families that lostoved ones during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. another example, the payments that were made to the individuals who had been held hostage in iran during the carter era presidency. those individuals were held hostage for approximately 440 days. they we given $10,000 per day of captivity. and so the iran hostage is received up to $4.4 million in payments for their period of captivity. juan: i asked you earlier but you did not get a chance to respond come about the growth of support for reparations among white americans? >> thank you for bringing that up again because i did not manage to respond to tt. yes, in the year 2000, a survey was conducted by miael dawson

-- two faculty members of the university of chicago. they found at that time, 4% of white americans endorsed reparations for black americans. if we spring forward to the year 2018, surveys that were takent thatoint suggest the figure was closer to 16% for white american support for reparations. still not a spectularly high proportion, but much, much better than 4%. and then the most recent polls i am aware of suggest the proportion h risen sewhere in t vicinity to 30%. and there are indications a majority of mlennials and younger voters in the u.s. endorsedeparations among white americans, reparations for black americans. amy: yesterday you spent hours, the california recreation task

force met fothe first time. you are advising them. can you talk about what they're are looking at in california? >> well, the california reparations task force has been charged with examining california's history of complicity with slavery and complicity with illegal seegation. it is charged with looking at what types of policies and practices the state california continues to conduct that inhibit and restrict the lives of its black ameran residents. and it is charged with arriving at a program of remedies. the first meeting yesterday was essentially the launch of the task fce activity, and it will be very, very interesting and perhaps presidence-setting to see ultimately with the task

force decides to do in its report that it presents to the california legislature. amy: professor, i want to ask you about the backlash growing after the university of north carolina chapel hill, nearby you at duke, denied tenure to the pulitzer prize-winning journalist nicole hannah jones, best known for producing the 1619 project with "the new york times," which re-examines a legacy of slavery. can you talk about what this means, the denial of tenure and why you care so much about this issue? >> i would like to cast this in the context of a wider attempt to censor the development and advancement of an accurate story of america's history with respect to racial injustice. race is so heavily infused in america' story that to remove

race and racism from the conversation, as many, many legislators around the country are attempting to do in this moment, i would suggest that is actually deep tragedy and a consequence of the failure of the country to do something that krtin mullen and i refer to as deconfederatize. we think of the aftermath of world war ii in germany, there are many complaints we can raise about what the german population did. but one thing they did not do is create an atmosphere of celebration and triumph about the nazis. in the united states in contrast, the losers of the civil war have crafted the story of this nation's history. this is a consequence of the direct actio of organizations like the united daughters of the confederacy and the daughters of

the american revolutn. as a consequence, we have been taught a lie for most of our lives. i see the attempto constrain the appointment of nicole hannah jones as part and parcel a wider effort to maintain a dishonest story about america's past. we have to undergo a deconfe deratization. this time we tell the truth, including about episodes of horrific violence like what took place in tulsa, oklahoma, in 1921. amy: william darity, thank you for being with us, professor of economics and african american studies at duke university. co-ahor of "from here to equality: reparations for black americans in the twenty-first century." when we come back on how the sports world is addressing

mental health issues as tennis star naomi osaka withdraws from the french open after being fined for not taking part in the news conferences due to the effect on her mental health. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "cryin' blues" by jimmy rushing. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. athletes around the globe are voicing support for tennis superstar naomi osaka, who withdrew from the french open monday after being fined and threatened with disqualification 's for declining to take part in news conferences due to their effect on her mental health. in a statement posted on

twitter, the 23-year-old osaka wrote -- "the truth is that i have suffered long bouts of depression since the u.s. open in 2018 and i have had a really hard time coping with that. anyone that knows me knows that i'm introverted, and anyone that has seen me at tournaments will notice that i'm often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety." neil me -- naomi osaka went on to write -- "i am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before i speak to the world's media. i get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage." prominent athletes have come forward to support osaka, from steph curry to venus and serena williams. tennis legend billie jean king wrote on twitter -- "it's incredibly brave that naomi osaka has revealed her truth about her struggle with depression. right now, the important thing is that we give her the space and timehe needs. we wish her well." sports researchers estimate one-third of athletes suffer

from a mental health crisis at some point in their careers. osaka, who has a japanese mother and a haian-american father, is a four-time winner of grand slam tennis tournaments. she drew headlines last year when she wore the names of black victims of police brutality on her face masks on the sidelines of the u.s. open. we are joined by amira rose davis. she is assistant professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at penn state university. she is currently working on a book titled "can't eat a medal: the lives and labors of black women athletes in the age of jim crow" and is co-host of the sports podcast "burn it all down." amira rose davis, welcome back to democracy now! >> thank you for having me. amy: can you take us through just the chronology of naomi osaka sync she didn't not want to participate in these news

conferences, that she was suffering from depression, was very nervous about them, and then the response of the open, the french open, australia, etc. , together at the french open sang they might expel her and they were finding her? >> absolutely. lasted before the tournament stted wdid to social media saying, heads up, i will be doing the post game presser, i don't want to engage in that way rental health concerns, think its better i don't do this and i recognize this comes with a fine and i prepad to y the fine and hope they can use thisined for mental health ganizaons or mtal heal initiaves andhat was r statent. shwas tryi toet aad of it. threactiono that osocial mea was a nge ofhings,ut helam, sheointed t the french, australian, u.s., wimbledon came together to issue a joint statement that the first

few lines had come up but we hope you are well, we care about mental health concerns and want to support you," and then quickly said, "we want to remind you of the code of conduct and not only the first $15,000 fine, but we will escalate that fine" and also elevate to the levels of been defaulted from the tournament. i think this was like throwing spark on the fire. because for all of these lamps to come together to do this statement when they're often quite on other things like right now there's literally somebody who is on trial for domestic abuse, we don't get the same -- this is a disproportionate response. that compelled -shifted e conversation to mental health concernsn a particular way that only was solidified when naomi put out a second statement this week that said, "i did not

want to be a distraction. this is the best thing for me to do is withdraw completely from the tournament." she did not end there, she went on to say she followed up privately with the slam to talk about this more but beyond that she wanted to have further conversation to ensure there was more awareness and more support for me to health concerns around athletes. that was her statement on monday. since then, we have had a right of conversations around the subject. juan: professor, i want to ask about the response. there is been sort of a disconnect from the response of other tennis players versus other athlete. could you talk about how fellow athletes are responding both within the tennis world and outside? >> many athletes ha come ou and plotted her, ve wished her we, talked aboutheir own mental health.

tennis players have be getting these questions. venus williams chose to answer yesterday by saying we are all dealing with it and the way i do is i know the press -- nobody's going to hold a candle to me and that is how i deal with it but we all have our ways of hoping. serena said, i just wa to give her a hug. that was intended to have been seen as support. outside of tennis, i collected disconnect is happening because there are three strands of conversations happening. one, athletes are having conversations about mental health, specifically like at these as professional athletes, and journalists are having a conversation about do these pressers matter, what does it look like to be changing landscape of their field that has been essential conversation as well. and either said she needs to go

play or buckle up and this is entitlement. there are a lot of people who also have recognized the strength in this and appreciate moving the needle on mental health. i think we're seeing multiple conversations overlapping on social media, but the support from athletes has been to talk about their own struggles or close to home or offer support. juan: to what degree do you think -- because this is something now pretty prevalent that all sports, these televised press conferences right after a game or matches, it is almost as if it is more of an entertainment value than news value. and it is more of an attempt to promote a particular sport economically rather than actually journalists ferreting out critical information. to what degree are the journalists playing into this

situation of looking always for conflict or dramatic narrative they can push a story, and of course, and having to home in more on the athletes with tough questions? >> absolutely. i think this is a key question. historically, these pressers have absolutely been to get interest, to have partnerships with sponsors. that is the function they serve, particularly growing women's leagues have used as an important ways in terms of growth. one of the conversations that has been happening is, has it outlived its function because many people feel like it is redundant questions, poking and prodding. i talked to my cohost and many journalists who are wrestling with this in other ways because i think i see a possibility in these pressers where there is access, where there is not prescribed questions, where

there is a chance to actlly perhaps hold people accountable, as questions that might have been otherwise pushed aside by handlers. i think that is valid, but also idealist way of how the pressers actually function -- to your point, the media is overwhelmingly older, overwhelmingly male. there is a marginalized sports reporters to even get in the room. i think the dynamic within those spaces does not live up to this kind of ideal of accountability and access and oftentimes becomes about turning out and perpetuating narratives, asking the same questions. and it sticks. one of the things new always had, i've been battling depression since the u.s. open 2018, which is when she faced serena and launched onto the scene ,won the slam. there's a narrative about serena's actions during the match. she was crying, fans were booing her.

every time they play, every time she is back to the u.sopen, this gets regurgitated. i think it is telling she pointed that out because it points to this point about how these narratives to continue and continuing continue with very little stopping to consider what harm or cost to the athlete. amy: yet it was serena who was among the superstars who came out in support of naomi osaka. this is what she said. >> the only thing i feel is that i feel for naomi. i feel i wish i could give her a hug because i know what it is like. like i said, i have been in those positions. we have different personalities. people are different. not everyone is the same. i am thick. every one is different and everyone handles things differently. you just have to let her handle it the way she wants to and the best way she thinks she can.

that is the only thing i can say. i think she's doing the best that she can. amy: that is serena williams sisters really helping among the few other african-americans in tennis to break the color barrier in what was a really white sport. and the significance, professor, of naomi osaka and -- well, her mother is japanese and her father is haitian-american. she is a black woman who is breakingo many barriers. i think she is the highest-paid woman athlete in the world right now. what this means, the kind of pressure being brought on her, young african-american women see even her, she gets -- she even said on those finds that the french open applied to her, she asked they be given to middle

health organizations, the money they made off of her. >> absolutely. two important things here that you brought up. one, absolutely, naomi has been in the spa we know has had a great deal for coco gauff, serena and venus and a married of entering into that space -- she try to disrupt conventional narratives for pushback and even framing of questions when people said, ok you're japanese. she would remind them she was haitian. she insisted on her black nesting record as. when she wear masks and they would ask her, what does this mean to you? she would explain and say, what does it mean to you? she flipped it back on the reporter. i think these were the ways she had already slightly disrupted or when she stopped playing last

august with a number of other athletes and said there were important things to do than for you to watch me play tennis. we have already seen her take on this role and kind of push the status quo in these ways. i think is important to map design to two other conversations. what is like athletes who are continuing to insist on their humidity being recognized, who continued to say we're not just here to entertain you and to push back on what is seen as entitlement or people are owed of their labor. athletes are saying, my labor is on the corporate you are already privy to my weight, height, my history, my body. and then also to my mind with these probing questions. ether it i protesting or speaking out about abuse or this conversation that naomi is having, the underlying points they're pushing back on through these moments is to say, we are

fully human and this is our job and we don't have to actually just go ang with cial abu or we don't have to sacrice oumental hlth. i ink that is important through line we e happeng here. so y can lk at peoeike rrie irvinwho refu to d ba preers unle they we abo abuse. we saw ts topiclso, wn mean markldisclod her deprsion, ornxiety. i think th is an importa growin conversatio some he called it a mental health crisis that the trope of a strong black woman who is tasked with doing labor, means there is high rates of depression, anxiety, and too often not enough mechanisms for help, very low number of

black women providers. at point of what this conversation does come how it moves the needle and how these black women celebrities and athletes can play a really important role in pushing the conversation as well. amy: we want to thank you amira rose davis amira rose davis for joining us, assistant professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at penn state university. cohost of the sports podcast "burn it all down." what naomi said in her salads at the u.s. open, donning seven mask up each bearing the name of a black person who was killed. breonna taylor, elijah mcclain, ahmaud arbery, trayvon martin george floyd, philando castile, tamir rice. almost all killed by police. when we come back, we look at the link between mass shootings and domestic violence. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "spotless mind" by jhené aiko. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the gun violence archive is reporting there have been at least 242 mass shootings so far this year. that's more than one mass shooting a day. we turn now to look at the link between domestic violence and mass shootings. last year, bloomberg published an analysis of nearly 750 mass shootings over the previous six years. it found that about 60% of the shootings were either domestic violence attacks or committed by men with histories of domestic violence. one of the deadliest mass shootings so far this year took place in san jose, california, last week when a 57-year-old

public transportation emplee lled nine of his co-workers at a light rail yard. like manother mass killers, the gunman, samuel cassidy, had a history of domestic violence. one ex-girlfriend filed a restraining order against him in 2009 accusing him of rape and sexual assault. we are joined now by julia weber. she is the implementation director at the giffords law center to prevent gun violence. she is also an expert on domestic violence policy, joining us from san francisco. why don't you lay out these connections that are often overlooked. >> thank you, amy. thank you for covering this issue. my thoughts are with those who are most directly affected by what happened in san jose last week and, unfortunately, the many people who are dealing with gun violence under edler basis as well@@ as domestic violence. we have folks tuning in i'm sure

who have experienced domestic violence, who maybe living with domestic violence currently. this is a massive public health problem as is gun violence. the nexus between firearm violence and domestic violence in particular legal line, as you noted. it impacts to apply the people most directly affected, partners, children, family members, but all of us because of the connectn to mass shootings. domestic violence has been going on long before the firearms violence crisis, but the combination is much more likely to result in cigarette injury and death. -- severe injury and death. we have over a million women alike today who have been shot were shot at by male partners. we have 600 women a year at least who are killed by their intimate partners as result of

firearms violence. that is one about every 14 hours or so. so we know this is a massive crisis that we need to address much more effectively. juan: julia weber, in terms of what has been the trend in terms of women being shot to death by their partners and also has the pandemic in one way or another ma things better or worse? >> one of the challenges in this space is that it is very hard to get good documentation. on the one hand, we can see during the pandemic, for example, there are communities that have seen an uptick in calls to local hotlines and calls for assistance. we know the national domestic violence hotline has reported an increased use of their chat feature which can allow folks to contact the hotline for safety planning and referral resources

without having to pick up the phone -- which became that much more complicated when people were required to stay home, sometimes in an unsafe home with someone who has been abusive. but we have a since there has been an increase. at the same time, we see some places have not reported an increase, which could be the rear -- result of ongoing subordination, marginalization, inability to contact hotlines and others for assistance when we were locked down and unable to leave the house, when children were not in school and teachers were not in the same position to report child abuse -- which is a form of domestic or family violence as well. you will see varying numbers but in general, we have seen increases around domestic violence and the use of firearms in domestic violence cases. the national hotline has written -- reported whether it is

threat, injury, or concerns about potentially lethal outcomes. amy: if domestic violence were taken seriously, especially women being killed, abused, getting restraining orders, this link to the mass killing's after -- if this was known -- what has to be done when it comes to these men getting guns that would prevent so many of these mass shootings? >> well, we need to have good policy in place. we need to improve existing policy. we need to implement policy. that is one of the roles i play in my work around implementation is first we have to advoca for and put in place good policy, which includes automatic firearm prohibition from the get go. that is when an emergency civil restraining order might be issued, temporary order, as well

as any order after hearing. in california, that is the case. it is not the case in every state. it is not the case under our federal law as well. then we have to ensure those policies are heated up fairly, consistently. therare workarounds to get around firearm prohibition. we see too many workarounds in these restraining order cases. then whave to ensure they are actually followed through on and that means getting the firearms from someone who currently owns firearms and becomes prohibited. it means ensuring we have universal background checks so at if someone who is prohibited to to purchase firearms or ammunition, that that would show up and they would be denied. there are several different aspects of what we need to do a better job around policy. then of course we need to do a much better job addressing misogyny and domestic violence from the start.

that is recognizing there is real harm that occurs as a result of gender bias. amy: julia weber, thank you for being with us. this clearly needs a much larger discussion. director at the giffords law implementationdirector at the giffords law center. name to gabby giffords. ç?ç?ç?ç?o■o■ñ■ç■ç■ç■

♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. people across the u.s. have seen their bank accounts fill up with thousands of dollars in stimulus money. so they rushed out and spent some of it in stores and restaurants. economists say consumers are driving a rebound. federal reserve leaders released the latest version of what's called the beige book. the report summarize t