How Coronavirus Is Affecting Black Communities

After tuning into Diddy's 'Black America & Coronavirus' town hall on Revolt TV featuring pillars in the black political community like Van Jones, Angela, Rye, Ayanna Presley, Yara Shahidi, and more, I decided to write this article. Like many I have intentionally decided to unplug from the news to protect my mentally health and sanity. 'Black America & Coronavirus' was my first deep dive back in.

The black community has been hit hard by the pandemic in many ways, starting with ignorance and miseducation about the virus. In the early weeks of March the lie that black people were immune to the virus spread across various social media outlets, which is simply not true. Most African Americans are actually at a higher risk of being hospitalized with the virus because of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure that disproportionately affect minority communities.

As coronavirus continues to rip through the nation leaving behind thousands of victims in its path, black communities have been infected and their residents killed at a disproportionate rate across the country. After this virus is done infecting it will expose a lot of weaknesses in the United States healthcare system. 

Cities that have reported a high number of cases among black communities include New Orleans, Chicago, Milwaukee, and many more. In Cook County (Illinois) 58% of coronavirus deaths have been black people, even though they only make up 23% of the population.

Historically, black populations have been affected differently by the rapid spread of infectious diseases. Parallels have been made to the AIDS and Opioid epidemics of the 80s. It's often said that when America catches a cold, African Americans catch the flu... now Covid-19. The virus doesn't discriminate on who it infects but the United States healthcare system has systematically oppressed black and brown communities for centuries. Even when the country returns to normalcy, black and brown communities will bare the effects for years to come. A proper healthcare system should've already been place to avoid alarming death tolls, but hopefully now our healthcare system will undergo drastic changes so nothing like this ever happens again.

The main things the black community can do now is to stay educated, follow safety guidelines, and check in on each other. Be smart & stay safe.