Disparities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The issues of racial and ethnic disparities are common in America. The reports show that African Americans and other racial minorities are often segregated from essential services such as adequate health care, housing, and employment opportunities. The disparities have emerged even more during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reports on Corona Virus infection and deaths show that African Americans and Latinos are highly affected and form many hospitalized patients (Bibbins-Domingo, 2020). Besides, the death rate of African Americans is almost twice that of White Americans. The causes of these disparities find their way back to American history, where the racial non-whites were denied access to better health care.
In his speech on the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King highlighted the irony of the interracial brotherhood false narrative among American soldiers while discrimination continued at home. Blacks and Whites could not interact back at home, while in the war, they seemed to embrace brotherhood. The same case is happening with the COVID-19 pandemic. There seem to be numerous efforts to curb the pandemic while racial minorities continue to suffer and their risk of contracting the virus magnified. The contributing factor to this trend is that most non-whites are overrepresented in the essential frontline workers and in low wages occupations (Bibbins-Domingo, 2020). Additionally, to some individuals, important steps meant to combat the virus, such as social distancing, are hardly achievable due to inadequate housing and overcrowding.
As a method to curb the pandemic, the author stresses the need for interdependence and increasing the focus on minority communities. By doing so, the disparities in the U.S. might decrease even on the verge of the ongoing pandemic. In his speech, King wanted the war in Vietnam to end because the U.S. government devoted more resources to the war than resources devoted to eliminating poverty in the U.S. Besides, he was against the Vietnam War because he felt it undermined Americans’ values and integrity. Similarly, the article stresses the need to concentrate more on the minority groups greatly affected by the pandemic by providing access to better healthcare services and housing services.
References
Bibbins-Domingo, K. (2020). This time must be different: disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
King Jr, M. L. (1967). Beyond Vietnam: A time to break the silence. Speech, Riverside Church, New York, NY, April 4.
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Question 
Disparities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Find a news article published within the last year that illustrates a contemporary manifestation of this unit’s topic.
Disparities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Then start a new thread and explain how the article you have chosen compares to (or differs from) at least one of the primary sources (see attached) we’ve engaged over the last two weeks.
Be sure to focus on how the resources you’ve chosen connect to or illustrate American culture, and don’t forget to provide a link to your article.