The double pandemic
It is clear that 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and it is no surprise that Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. As we collectively commemorate Black History Month, we urge the St. Joe’s community to acknowledge the strength and resilience of BIPOC Americans, who have endured more than 500 hundred years of colonization, enslavement and systemic racial oppression.
Black Americans in particular have had to endure continued racial injustice while trying to survive the pandemic. The data shows that Black people are dying from the coronavirus at a rate 1.5 times higher than white people.
Police violence against Black people reached a peak in the summer of 2020, as 164 Black people were killed by the police within the first eight months of the year. For those who survive, the repercussions of centuries of sustained systemic racial oppression in the U.S. are mentally and emotionally taxing on Black Americans.
While (white) Americans sought ways to overcome social isolation and ways to relax over the summer as the virus spread, Black Americans did this too, in addition to fighting for their lives.
Studies from the Mayo Clinic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and John Hopkins have found that Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by all major crises, national and global, more than any other group of people. The recession in the U.S. in the wake of the pandemic is one example of this disproportionate impact on Black lives. BIPOC Americans have also been shown to have a COVID-19 death rate double, or more, than that of white and Asian Americans.
The system of chattel slavery and an exploitative racialized capitalist economic system has created a vast wealth gap between white and Black Americans.
As scholar and law professor Mehrsa Baradaran wrote in her extensive study on racial inequality, “The Color of Money Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap,” after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, not even Black banks were empowered enough to help Black people overcome housing segregation, racism and Jim Crow credit policies.
These persistent forms of discrimination entrenches the Black-white wealth gap. The national economic crises impacts Black Americans disproportionately more, with the unemployment rate for Black Americans during the pandemic being 16.7%, while the rate for white Americans is 14.2%. The poverty rate for Black Americans is more than double that of white Americans, at 15.2% and 6.6%, respectively.
The financial, mental and emotional burdens of this past year have been hard on everyone, but we must acknowledge that this trauma uniquely impacts Black Americans, who have endured and survived the historic, systemic racism in the U.S. And so it is critical that we affirm and renew our solidarity with the Black community as we move forward into 2021 and beyond.
There are many ways to do this: educate yourself on systemic racism, white supremacy, institutional racism and if you are able to, contribute to community organizations and mutual aid groups.
The Hawk has provided a list of racial justice organizations that you can donate money to. On campus, you can donate to our student and faculty run food and basic resource pantry, Hawk Hub, which is located in Merion Hall 162. Hawk Hub accepts donations of nonperishable food and personal care items. There is also an Amazon wish list which you can use to make requested donations. If you don’t have the means to donate, the list also has links for volunteer opportunities at local mutual aid organizations or community-based groups that provide support to vulnerable communities.
Our own Campus Ministry has shown how they plan to commit to supporting the Black community throughout Black History Month, stating that they are “…working on anti racist mindsets and behaviors,” and invite the rest of the St. Joe’s community to do the same.
– The Editorial Board
