Imagining a new America: Emerging from the Pandemic
By: Meenakshi Verma-Agrawal
Tags: Imagine, Health Equity, Racism, Covid 19, Structural Racism

COVID-19 has not only shined a spotlight on the racial, social and economic differences that exist in this country, but burst these inequities wide open in a way that has — and must continue to — force us to more directly confront them as we emerge from the pandemic.

Throughout this pandemic we’ve witnessed the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and other Peoples of Color) communities. While the data is not complete in every region of the country, we know that Black and Hispanic/Latinx Americans have been testing positive and dying of COVID-19 at rates higher than their total percentage of the U.S. population.

There are a variety of reasons for this inequity — employment and work conditions due to racism in the workforce, community and living environments due to historical redlining, and income and wealth inequities due to unfair lending systems put in place by banking institutions. As a result of these structural, historical and political factors, many of those who are considered essential workers do not have the advantage of being able to work from home and therefore are at higher risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

Since these inequities are historical and structural, it should not be surprising that it is impacting vaccination rates. Data on race and ethnicity is known for only about 55 percent of those who’ve received at least one COVID vaccine dose in the U.S., and among this group, 65 percent of individuals are white, 11 percent Hispanic and just 9 percent are black, according to the CDC. There is an assumption of neutrality around COVID, but nothing can be ‘equalized’ when the historical and structural are not named explicitly.

One of the underreported aspects of this pandemic is the ways in which it has forced us to think and operate differently on a whole host of issues that would have been unthinkable a year ago.

For example, during the pandemic many states have offered free childcare to frontline workers (grocery workers and healthcare workers) who provide crucial services to our communities. Even grocery stores have begun to offer delivery services to those receiving SNAP benefits. Throughout the country, healthcare and behavioral health providers have expanded telehealth, making it possible for more individuals to access critical care from their own homes, often with copays being waived. Internet providers have, in some instances expanded affordable access to broadband service, reduced or eliminated data fees, and worked with schools to support remote learning. Nationally, the federal government has temporarily halted residential evictions, ensuring that individuals and families can remain in their homes and there is relief for families suffering from the loss of income due to COVID.

Each of these examples of innovation were adopted in a time of crisis to address a significant need. While many of them are temporary, one-off solutions, they don’t have to be. We need more of this thinking and solution-finding, and we must deploy it on a larger, systematic and sustained basis. Many of us are understandably eager to find a new sense of normalcy post-pandemic, but simply returning to “normal” would be a missed opportunity of epic proportions. The reality is that normal wasn’t sustainable pre-pandemic. Normal was the embers that created the conditions that allowed COVID-19 to blaze through our communities, killing nearly 18,000 Massachusetts residents, parents, grandparents, friends and people with whom we had deep connections. And sadly, a new milestone of more than 600,000 individuals, nationally.

If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it’s how important factors such as food, housing, transportation, childcare, student debt, education, mental health and a living wage are to overall health, are all impacted by structural and historical racism. Unless we can figure out solutions to these crucial issues, we won’t improve public health. And ultimately, as a nation with such a short historical memory, we will have learned very little from this global pandemic.

Let’s not make suffering and pain the only legacy of this pandemic. As America emerges from this pandemic, vaccinated and removing mask-mandates, the world is suffering around us. When we reflect back on this period, we have the opportunity to say we found the courage to tackle the key social issues that will make our communities healthier, stronger and more equitable. But that can only happen by enacting concrete, systematic change. We know we can be innovative. We know we must address historical and structural racism and other injustices. We can imagine a newer America, we only need to find the courage to do so.