COVID-19 Racial Disparities; How White Privilege Still Exist In America Today
Tags: White Privilege, Equality, Racism, Covid 19, BlackLivesMatter

By Grace Ralstin

As a college student majoring in political science, I’ve been fascinated by American politics more than ever before. I always try to stay open-minded and always use facts as the foundation for my opinion; which brings me to what I will be discussing in this article. During the world pandemic, I’ve heard a lot of conversation about how COVID-19 has been approached by the Trump Administration. I’ve heard even more about inequality and racism, which has also been a political controversy during the year 2020. With that being stated, many Americans debate about whether or not white privilege still exists in this country today, and I’ll be analyzing the facts to debunk this controversial topic.

Many Americans acknowledge how the United States has a significant amount of COVID-19 cases compared to any other country, along with how the United States has the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world. As of December 16th, 2020, the United States has reached 311,073 deaths (Elflein). It is evident that COVID-19 is a serious issue in America, but are we paying attention to which Americans are struggling the most? Many individuals don’t want to acknowledge how the coronavirus is striking minorities the hardest, specifically the black community. According to amfAR, the foundation for Aids Research, research indicates that “22% of U.S. counties are disproportionately black, and those counties account for 52% of COVID-19 cases and 58% of COVID-19 deaths” (Zarefsky). It is not a coincidence how minority communities are impacted much more fatally compared to white communities; structural racism is a tactic our government engrains into public policy, explaining why minorities are struggling far worse than whites. According to a non-profit organization called Erase Racism, the term structural racism is defined as “The historical and ongoing racial discrimination and segregation of African-Americans/blacks in particular, which is typically instigated or sanctioned by government” (INFOGRAPHIC Structural Racism).

The U.S. unemployment rates don’t necessarily impact the COVID-19 cases in a community. According to an article called The Persistent Black-White Unemployment Gap Is Built Into the Labor Market, it states “Many economists find it promising that the U.S. unemployment rate fell from a high of 14.7 percent in April 2020 to 8.4 percent in August 2020… Significantly, however, unemployment rates have not fallen for everyone: The Black unemployment rate reached a high of 16.6 percent in May 2020, and as of August 2020, it was still at 13.2 percent. Conversely, the white unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in August 2020 from a high of 12.8 percent in April, or nearly half of the Black unemployment rate” (Ajilore). Statistically, African-Americans have a 2:1 ratio unemployment rate compared to white Americans. Quite often, I’ll hear white Americans say how African-Americans should be fortunate about how they have higher unemployment rates compared to whites, which supposedly means they’re much less likely to contract COVID-19 by not working. However, this assumption is simply not true because even though African-Americans have twice as high unemployment rates compared to whites, African-Americans are also twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to whites.

The unemployment rates are not a correlating factor that contributes to the cases of COVID-19, but one’s job sector most definitely determines the risk of an individual contracting the virus. According to an article, it explains, “This was due in part to the prevalence of workers in essential jobs — which are disproportionately held by African Americans and other people of color — Essential jobs, however, are often in the low-earnings sector, do not offer hazard pay, and put workers at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus” (Ajilore). The black community and other individuals of color are not in favor of continuing to work at their jobs that expose them to the public, increasing their chances of contracting COVID-19.

Essentially, many minorities are cycled through the ins and outs of structural racism that the government influences, which is why COVID-19 spreads so quickly in minority communities. The cycle starts with housing discrimination, according to an article published by Vox, it states, “Discriminatory housing policies like redlining have made it harder to maintain social distance. Unequal education and job opportunities have compelled people to take on higher-risk work. Worse healthcare access has bred more underlying medical conditions” (Samuel). When people of color live in neighborhoods with residential segregation, this leads to unequal education opportunities. Individuals who have less access to educational resources tend to be frontline workers, having more exposure to the public which makes these workers more likely to contract COVID-19. Therefore, the cycle of racial discrimination is the biggest influence as to why the coronavirus has spread so vigorously throughout minority communities in the United States. White communities don’t have to face the hardships that come from the cycle of structural racism, which is a clear-cut example of white privilege.

Many individuals of color, specifically the black community, are aware of the bias that the American healthcare system has upheld for decades. Their position on this issue is that all they want is equal treatment at hospitals and testing centers that white Americans receive. According to an article, the author states, “Furthering the problem, some hospitals have turned black residents away, only for them to die, despite their showing the same symptoms as white people who receive testing and treatment. This suggests that bias is playing a role. If cities were to test all residents, treatment would not depend on any preconceived notions about who is deserving of care and who is not” (Summers). During the world pandemic, many African-Americans have experienced racial discrimination through the healthcare system, which contributes to why the black community is the racial group experiencing the highest death rate in the United States. When one is not treated by the healthcare professionals when ill or is completely unaware that they even have COVID-19, this is concerning for all communities, regardless of one’s skin color. The racial bias displayed in the American healthcare is a prime example of how white privilege does exist because one’s race determines their outcome on whether or not they’ll receive medical attention from healthcare professionals, or perhaps even have their lives valued. Many white individuals don’t understand how their race puts them in a position to be ahead of people of color in multiple instances. Although race is a social construct and it should seem irrelevant when it comes to helping patients, statistics demonstrate how white communities have been helped far more than communities of color.

Overall, I’ve used the global pandemic as an example to help me explain how white privilege still exists in the United States today. The disproportionate rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths between whites and people of color convey inequality. The government and most people in power distinguish an individual or a communities’ importance based on race, a social construct that shouldn’t determine anyone’s value. Everyone should acknowledge how racial discrimination has been a huge issue during these difficult times, and how white privilege should be abolished.

References

Ajilore, Olugbenga. “The Persistent Black-White Unemployment Gap Is Built Into the Labor Market.” Center for American Progress, 28 Sep. 2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2020/09/28/490702/persistent-black-white-unemployment-gap-built-labor-market/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnvj9BRA4EiwAuUMDf8hrz13ZLdFdXZ-J96Vlk_miwtPjO12z65ObxQ0-Lt18kJOVFXIz2RoCyfAQAvD_BwE#Ca=3%23Or=1%23Pr=7%23IA=R

Elflein, John. “COVID-19 deaths worldwide as of December 16, 2020, by country.” Statista,16 Dec. 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093256/novel-coronavirus-2019ncov-deaths-worldwide-by-country/

“INFOGRAPHIC Structural Racism at a Glance: COVID-19.” Erase Racism, Accessed 8 Dec. 2020. http://www.eraseracismny.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=891:infographic-structural-racism-at-a-glance-covid-19&catid=17:teaching-tool

Samuel, Sigal. “Should people of color get access to the Covid-19 vaccine before others?” Vox, 28 Oct. 2020. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/10/2/21493933/covid-19-vaccine-black-latino-priority-access

Summers, Brandi T. “What Black America Knows About Quarantine.” The New York Times, 15 May 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-ahmaud-arbery-race.html?auth=login-email&login=email

Zarefsky, Marc. “Why African American communities are being hit hard by COVID-19.” American Medical Association, Accessed 8 Dec. 2020. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/why-african-american-communities-are-being-hit-hard-covid-19