Page 34 - Florida Sentinel 4-2-21

Memoriams
One Year Later:
National
IN LOVING MEMORIES
ESSIE WALKER 1902 – 1990
JAMES WALKER 1931 – 2014
ANTONIO C. SMITH 1962 – 2005
EUGENE WALKER 1933 – 1989
ARTHUR B. SOARREY 1919 – 1962
CHARLIE WALKER, JR. 1929 – 1995
The Kelley, Daniels, Walker and Soarrey families.
COVID-19’s Impact On Black Communities
Here are five ways COVID-19 has dispropor- tionately affected Black Americans and where we were in March 2020 com- pares to where we are now.
Health-related racial dispar- ities have been a disease Amer- ica has long-struggled to treat. Since the times of slavery when Black Americans were used for medical experiments, inequities have been a persistent plague in America.
While some progress has been made, COVID-19 has been like a stress test on the American health care system, and — based on the statistics — the country has underper- formed. The pandemic began to hit America in full force in March and early April of 2020.
Here are five ways COVID- 19 has disproportionately af- fected Black Americans and how where we were in March 2020 compares to where we are now.
1. Black People Cur- rently Comprise 15% of COVID Deaths
Where we started: Back in April 2020, in a study of COVID-19 deaths that studied the data of 23 states and Wash- ington DC (the only ones that were reported at the time), Black people dying of COVID- 19 averaged 31.37% of the pop- ulation.
Where we are now: As of March 3, 2021, deaths among black people comprise 15% of all COVID fatalities.
While this may show an overall improvement in the per- centage of deaths for Black peo- ple, a death rate of 15% still outpaces the percentage of the population that’s black, which sits at only 13%.
2. Black Unemployment is 10.2% vs. 5.2% of Whites Where we started: Back in the spring of 2020, the un-
employment rate of Black Americans stood at 16.7% compared to 14.2% of whites.
Where we are now: Black unemployment, even though it’s lower than in the spring of 2020, is still nearly twice that of whites at 10.2%, compared to 5.2% among their white counter- parts.
As of noon Monday, March 29, 2021, 22,728 Blacks in Hillsborough County had received the vaccine. 11,721 of those had received both doses. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty)
3. 4,282,980 Black Peo- ple Are Currently Without Jobs During COVID
Where we started: In the spring of 2020, there were sig- nificantly more Black people unemployed, at around 7.01 million. As the economy has started to rebound, the effects may be boosting Black job growth. However, the number of Blacks unemployed during COVID is even higher than it was during the Great Recession, which saw 6.22 million Black people unemployed.
Where we are now: Cur- rently, about 4.28 million Black Americans are without a job. This is a marked improvement since the spring of 2020, but still represents a significant portion of Black people in the country, which stands at only 41.99 million.
4. Whites Are 2.2 Times More Likely to Have Been Vaccinated
In a survey that gathered data from state health depart- ments, whites were getting the vaccine at a percentage more than twice that of Black Americans, at an average rate of 2.5% of the pop- ulation compared to only 1.14% of Black Americans in the same areas. This appears to be a product of both racial discrimi- nation and hesitancy on the part of Black Americans to take the vaccine.
In both the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study and the Henrietta Lacks story, Black Americans were used for medical studies without white doctors first get- ting their consent. The lack of trust engendered by these inci- dents, combined with the
rushed feeling of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump Ad- ministration’s attempt to speed up the vaccination of the Amer- ican people, may result in feel- ings of unease and a lack of confidence in the safety of the vaccine.
5. Black Children Are 25% More Likely to Miss School Because of the Pan- demic
Even though many Ameri- can children have missed classes due to the pandemic, Black children are 25% more likely to miss school than their white counterparts. According to a pulse survey performed by the U. S. Census Bureau, a full half of Black and Latino parents said their children had their classes canceled. On the other hand, only 40% of white par- ents reported the same.
Lessons Learned
The COVID-19 stress test has revealed what many have long known: The racial dispari- ties in America have a signifi- cant impact on Black Americans. While this isn’t sur- prising, the fact that the coun- try has lagged behind in supporting Black people during a viral outbreak —something that is blind to race and ethnic- ity — starkly underscores the racial divide in the United States. As the country climbs out of the abyss of the pan- demic, there will likely be long- term ripple effects on the Black community. The higher unem- ployment rate, combined with a greater percentage of children missing classes, will likely re- verberate through the country’s socioeconomic fabric for years to come.
FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 19-A