In Michigan and Illinois, African Americans make up, oh, 14 to 15% of the population but account for 41% of the COVID-19 deaths. In Chicago alone, African Americans account for 70% of the city’s deaths, yet just 30% of the population. In Louisiana, one of the hot spots of the virus, African Americans comprise about a third of the population but 70% of the COVID-19 deaths. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who once called the virus the “great equalizer,” said Wednesday black people make up 18% of the deaths in the state despite being 9% of the state population. The Latinx community makes up 29% of New York City but 34% of the deaths, many of them in Queens, the most diverse community in the nation. The actual number of deaths due to COVID-19 will likely be never known, as people, often undocumented, those on the margins of society, are dying at home uncounted.
COVID-19 is exposing U.S. racism in a stark new way, because the black and brown bodies are piling up so fast that they can’t be — these deaths can’t be normalized or ignored. And the way that racism is operating in this pandemic is in two separate fronts. It’s increasing exposure to the virus, and it has increased vulnerability to the virus.
So, increasing exposure to the virus because the way that racism, that structures opportunity and assigns value, has structured our educational opportunities and job opportunities, we are in more front-facing, low-income, underappreciated jobs, where we are part of the essential workforce that really isn’t getting its full attention, and certainly not getting the full protection that we need.
Racism has increased the vulnerability of us to this virus, because living in racially segregated communities that are resource segregated, without adequate access to food, and
— source democracynow.org | Apr 09, 2020