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We have continuously heard that the current COVID-19 pandemic is “the great equalizer”, impacting all socioeconomic and racial groups without any qualms. However, it has become very evident throughout the past few weeks that the racial minorities in America are being infected with this virus at much higher rates. Particularly, African Americans and Latinos living in America’s largest cities have been affected by this coronavirus much more than others. For example, to the nation’s shock, in April it was discovered that 72% of Chicagoans who died from this virus were black, while 52% of all of this city’s positive cases were also attributed to the black community (Moore). In New York City, the Hispanic population is also suffering from high numbers of cases, with this group having the highest mortality rate of 34% (Vazquez).
So yes, while the pandemic has affected all Americans, minorities have taken a great brunt of the virus' force. Why are COVID-19 cases so prevalent in black and Latino communities? one may ask. Well, one prominent factor is the multitude of underlying health conditions that are in both communities. Thus far, about 89% of people hospitalized while having this virus have at least one underlying health condition (Aubrey). Due to the prevalence of illnesses like obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes in the black community, these individuals are placed at further risk of the more detrimental consequences of the virus.
Fleming-Dutra K et al.MMWR. 2020 Mar 31;69 (early release):1-5
Another crucial factor is the poverty faced by African Americans and Hispanics living in urban settings. As much as these individuals may want to stay home, they are not financially stable enough to do so for the length of the pandemic. Specifically for undocumented immigrants, they are ineligible for unemployment benefits, which also pushes them to continue to travel to work in unsafe conditions as essential workers (Jordan and Oppel Jr.). By still attending work, African Americans and Latinos take on the great risk of contracting the virus. However, this is the risk many are willing to take to provide for themselves and their families.
A more systematic explanation of disparities that encompasses all of the previously mentioned causes can be attributed to structural violence. Through structural violence, “The mechanisms by which social forces ranging from poverty to racism become embodied as personal distress and disease” (Farmer). Because of the historical inequities these groups have faced, the disparities in economic and health care access lead to poorer health outcomes. Moreover, this system leads governments and local leaders to forget poor black and brown individuals, creating a cycle of poverty, despair, and lack of both physical and mental care. Although this cycle of disparity gained a spotlight during this pandemic, it has lasted for decades and its magnitude was also felt during the AIDS epidemic.
If we are to take anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that our minorities are so vulnerable that we need to address the systems that continue to oppress them. Vulnerability does not solely lie in this virus or, more generally, in underlying health conditions. Minorities, whose numbers are especially great in urban areas, are vulnerable in each aspect of everyday life. To prevent phenomenons like these from occurring again, we must confront the systems in place that exclude African Americans and Hispanics socially and economically. This happens by first dismantling the structural violence that has affected these communities for years.
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