Disproportionate Effects on African Americans
African Americans, among other POC, have had a disproportionate impact of Covid-19. In the data set on the left, the most drastic example is in Chicago, where despite African Americans only making up 30% of the population, they make up 69% of the Covid-19 deaths as of April 6, 2020. Another staggering statistic is that while African Americans only make up 26% of the population in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, they made up 70% of Covid-19 deaths (Hill Golden, 2020). This is a difference of 44% which is incredibly significant.
Moreover, there are various reasons why this is the case. To begin, type of work seems to play a role in this phenomenon. In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, type of work, racism, and access to medical care were a few of the factors contributing to the disproportionate impact of the disease (Desimone, 2022). When it comes to type of work, this not only impacts the worker, but the family of the worker who lives with them. In fact, since Black children were more likely to have family members in service or blue-collar jobs, there was a detrimental impact on the children themselves as well (Mays et. al., 2022). Children are unable to find another place to stay, thus they are exposed to the Covid-19 their working parents are exposed to. Furthermore, racism, ingrained in institutions has a major impact. Racism manifests itself in inadequate access to healthcare in African American communities. In fact, in 2020, 10% of Black people were uninsured, while only 5% of non-Hispanic White people were uninsured (Desimone, 2022). Disproportionate access to healthcare is directly related to institutional racism and played a detrimental role in the Pandemic.
References:
DeSimone, D. C. (2022, October 6). Why are people of color more at risk of being affected by covid-19? Mayo Clinic. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/expert-answers/coronavirus-infection-by-race/faq-20488802
Hill Golden , S. (2020, April 20). Coronavirus in African Americans and other people of color. Coronavirus in African Americans and Other People of Color | Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid19-racial-disparities
Mays, V. M., Cochran, S. D., Salemi, J. L., & Pathak, E. B. (2022). The accumulation of disadvantage: Black children, adolescents, and covid-19 data inequity. American Journal of Public Health, 112(10), 1407–1411. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2022.307053