As Ohio lawmakers consider legalizing sports betting, gambling opponents are sounding the alarm that allowing it would hurt minorities.
Ohio NAACP leader and former state senator Tom Roberts oppose the gambling legislation now under consideration. He says legal sports gambling in other states advertises disproportionately to low-income people.
“You know people of color are preyed upon in these markets and this will continue if gambling is allowed," Roberts says.
Roberts says the business interests that he says benefit from minorities as their customers won’t help when it comes to protecting their voting rights. And he says public schools, which many minority children rely on, would be hurt if sports betting is legalized.