As businesses and schools continue to reopen across the country, the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to claim lives. According to The New York Times, more than 40,000 people in the U.S. are infected with COVID-19 each day, a higher rate than in any other developed country in the world. The U.S. also has one of the highest death rates for COVID-19, with an average 50% higher than both Spain and Israel, the two developed countries with the next highest death rates. Donald Trump’s failure to respond to the pandemic has not only cost the country economic and financial losses but a number of fatalities.
While the entire country has suffered at the hands of Trump and his administration’s inability to handle the virus, communities of color--particularly Black communities--have faced the worst of the pandemic. During the first presidential debate on Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden noted that one in 1,000 African Americans have been killed as a result of COVID-19. “And if he doesn’t do something quickly, by the end of the year, one in 500 will have been killed. One in 500 African Americans,” he continued. This statistic comes as a reminder of the cold hard truth that African Americans are disproportionately killed by multiple epidemics in the country, including racism and COVID-19.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black, Latino, and Asian communities are reporting COVID-19 cases at over two and a half times the number of cases of their white counterparts. Black Americans are more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to white Americans, and nearly one-third of Black Americans know someone personally who has died from COVID-19, compared to 9% of white Americans.
A poll conducted by The Washington Post asking individuals whether it is more important to try to control the spread of the pandemic or restart the economy found that 83% of Black Americans said it was more important to stop the spread, while only half of white Americans agreed. The reality is that white Americans are experiencing a completely different side of the pandemic. Not to say that all white Americans do not care or have not been affected by the virus, but the truth remains that Black Americans face more systemic obstacles that make them more susceptible to the virus. As Black Americans are forced to confront more tragedies and deaths related to the coronavirus, concern for eradicating it increases.
According to Vox, several factors contribute to why Black Americans are disproportionately affected by coronavirus, including higher rates of preexisting conditions. Many of these conditions come as a result of policies, such as redlining and others, that force communities of color to live in areas with more air pollution. While the government has created relief-related responses focused on economic relief such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, it has failed to provide health care benefits to those most at risk. Inequalities in housing and healthcare access in addition to educational barriers significantly contribute to the disproportionate rates of disease in Black communities.
Black Americans are also more likely to work in industries that are deemed “essential” or have a higher risk of exposure, Vox reported. Having to work during a pandemic in itself is a risk; having to take public transportation due to economic or financial barriers poses an even greater one. Health experts, including Harvard Global Health Institute Faculty Director Dr. Ashish Jha, noted that the Trump administration is responsible for the death rates in the U.S. and that under different leadership, the country would not be suffering as severely from the virus. However, Trump refuses to accept this. He maintains that he has done a lot for the Black community and has their support.
Trump has done nothing and will do nothing. In an interview with Bob Woodward, Trump admitted that he tried to “play down” the risk of the pandemic. Additionally, in Tuesday’s debate, Trump not only mask-shamed and said: “[Biden] shows up with the biggest mask I’ve seen,” but he failed to have his supporters abide by mask-wearing rules. His comment implied that always seeing Biden with a mask was bad. If he cared about the American people, he would realize the importance of wearing a mask and encouraging others to do so.
Seeing guests, including members of the administration and Trump family, in the debate hall without masks, a Cleveland Clinic doctor approached individuals and requested that they wear a mask. She even offered them one should they need it. According to NBC News, while the doctor did not approach the Trump family, as she got closer to them a family member shook their head at her, resulting in no one she spoke to wearing a mask.
The bare minimum that Trump, his family, and his supporters could do to protect communities more susceptible to the virus is to wear a mask. But alas, they do not care about anyone but themselves.
Unfortunately, while we know communities of color are most affected by this pandemic, we lack the information to identify the most vulnerable populations that need additional resources on a local level. While the U.S. is known as a developed and thriving country, our leaders fail to protect the most vulnerable communities. Better protections for essential workers and those living in poverty must be implemented, or the health disparities people of color face in the U.S. will continue to grow. Until we see a systemic change made at all levels, people of color will continue to face health issues at rates that differ from those of their white counterparts.
We need to turn out Democratic voters to defeat Trump in November, even during a pandemic-and to save Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy. You can help out from home, no matter where you live, by writing personalized letters to infrequent, but Democratic-leaning, voters in swing states. Click here to set up an account with Vote Forward, the most popular get-out-the-vote activity at Daily Kos.