The Disproportional Impact of COVID-19 on African Americans
Introduction
Covid-19 has presented challenges to all global citizens. The USA, a first-world country, has also faced these challenges. The effects of Covid-19 have had different impacts on different people’s lives. Some have had to adapt to new working cultures, others have lost their jobs, and students have learned from home. However, as others struggled to remain home to avoid contacting people in public, other individuals had to remain in the public spaces and institutions offering critical services in the healthcare, transport, and hospitality sectors. This juxtaposition can be blamed for the disproportionate impacts that the American population has experienced. The minority groups lacked access to test kits and timely treatment and suffered from the condition more, leading to their death in high numbers. Among the different races in the USA, African Americans were found to carry out more ‘odd’ jobs, lack access to COVID-19 testing, suffer from a lack of comprehensive healthcare, and contracted the condition more than their counterparts did. This particular observation is highlighted by the occurrence of Covid-19. However, it is a reflection of the race’s reality in the country. The global pandemic only magnified the inequality that spreads across all sectors, affecting a specific race disproportionately.
Covid-19 Reality
The COVID-19 pandemic has manifested itself variably in all geographic regions, affecting large numbers of people and killing as well. In the USA alone, at least 7 million citizens in all states were infected with Covid-19 in October 2020. More than 213,000 individuals perished due to the disease. However, these figures are only a reflection of the generalized effects. The data fails to reflect the number of individuals affected by the condition based on demographic factors such as race, gender, age, or medical history. The lack of such critical information leaves the public in the dark regarding the most vulnerable groups. Inequality in the USA is rising as decades turn into centuries. Among the first-world countries, the inequality gap in the USA is the widest. As the economic gap continues to widen, the health differences also increase. This occurs regardless of the high budget allocations towards healthcare in the country, as opposed to other nations. A large number of citizens cannot access healthcare due to the high cost of insurance. Covid-19 has magnified the ever-widening gap, which affects a part of the population more drastically than it does the rest.
African Americans have long suffered through the inequality displayed in the USA. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, 20 per cent of people of colour were uninsured. The act was instrumental in reducing the rate of African Americans lacking health insurance from 18.9 percent to 11.7 percent. This reduced rate is still high compared to Whites and Asian Americans, who are insured to the tune of more than 93 percent. This difference places African Americans at a disadvantage since they tend to forgo or ignore medical consultations, tests, medications, and treatment due to the high cost. When the testing of Covid-19 began in Kansas, only 4,854 African Americans were tested among 94,780 individuals. The testing process failed to account for the higher likelihood and vulnerability of African Americans who were and remain more exposed to the condition. Out of 208 deaths, more than 50 were African Americans (Reyes, 2020). This simple yet important comparison should have qualified more African Americans for the test in comparison to other races who could access care in facilities. However, such discriminative healthcare decisions are deeply ingrained into the country’s historical fabric, where African Americans have always endured mistreatment due to their supposedly inferior social status (Levins, 2020). It is also visible in the country’s job allocation system. Most African Americans had to work as other citizens remained or worked from home. This is due to the nature of the jobs that they occupy. Most are in the transport, healthcare, and food service sectors, which require physical presence. The low wages also compel the race to continue working until they test positive for Covid-19. When this test is done, individuals have infected each other within the workplace and their homes, widening the inequality gap and its negative consequences. In the correction centres, the number of African Americans is higher than in other races ridiculously. The administration’s laxity in offering equal access to proper healthcare during the pandemic exposes African Americans disproportionately. The high incidence rates of underlying conditions among African Americans are responsible for the high rate of deaths after contracting COVID-19. The inequality narrative continues to play out around the county’s sectors, affecting one group adversely.
African Americans have suffered through the Covid-19 pandemic more than other races have in the USA. Their suffering manifests in the number of infections, their ability/inability to take precautions, and the number of deaths. Various factors, including low-wage jobs, lack of access to care, and high incidence rate of other underlying conditions, place them at a greater risk. These factors translate into fewer testing or treatment opportunities and faster spreading in various contexts. As a result, the inequality gap in a country that spends more on healthcare in comparison to other first-world countries is magnified through Covid-19.
Personal Reflection
The article relays information that confirms the vulnerability of African Americans who live in the USA. Not only are they treated as less human beings by other races, especially the Whites, but also the law and its enforcers seem to deny protection of their rights. Based on past protests in the country, such as ‘Black Lives Matter’, it is clear that the rate of suffering as a person of colour is extremely high (Buchanan, Bui, & Patel, 2020). COVID-19 has magnified the suffering and vulnerability of the group, raising awareness among healthcare policymakers regarding their priorities. I think the new administration should prioritize the welfare of marginalized groups to reduce the inequality gap and promote a sense of belonging among black citizens.
Conclusion
The disproportionate effects of Covid-19 are captured in America’s testing and death statistics. Based on the data, more blacks died of the condition, yet more Whites were tested for Covid-19. This barbaric health practice raises questions regarding the country’s administration’s commitment to assist its citizens in fighting the condition. The continued exposure of African Americans as other races remained indoors is juxtaposed by the high cost of medical insurance. Thus, people of colour suffer from Covid-19 and remain at risk of dying due to late testing, lack of treatment, and rapid spreading. This situation highlights the aspects that the new country should prioritize to create an eternal difference in the treatment that African Americans receive.
References
Buchanan, L., Bui, Q., & Patel, J. K. (2020). Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History. New York Times.
Levins, H. (2020). COVID-19’s Disproportionate Damage in African American Communities. Retrieved from https://ldi.upenn.edu/news/covid-19s-disproportionate-damage-african-american-communities
Reyes, M. V. (2020). The Disproportional Impact of COVID-19 on African Americans. Health and Human Rights Journal, 22(2), 299-307.
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Question 
The Disproportional Impact of COVID-19
Refer to the attached student essay titled: “The Disproportional Impact of COVID-19 on African Americans.” Do a six-paragraph summary of the essay under the following headings-(1)Introduction, (2)Opening Paragraph, (3) Supporting Paragraph, (4)Closing Paragraph,(5) Personal Reflection on the essay, and (6) Conclusion. Make sure you use APA style referencing. This link will be useful.
APA 7 Format Page:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_gui
de/apa_changes_7th_edition.html
(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_c
hanges_7th_edition.html)