By John James
COVID is killing Black people at an alarming rate. As of April 2, more than 10,000 Michiganders were diagnosed with COVID-19 and 35% were African Americans. There were 417 deaths in Michigan and 40% were African American. These statistics are alarming by themselves but even more alarming when you recognize that, one, Blacks only make up 14% of the statewide population and, two, that this is a nationwide issue.
Blacks comprise 70% of the COVID deaths in Chicago while we comprise 30% of its population. Louisiana, reporting similar numbers, recently reported that 70% of its residents who are dying from the virus are also Black. And in Milwaukee County, half of its total cases and 81% of its deaths are of Blacks.
Yes, COVID is killing people of all races, creeds, ethnicities, and genders. But for a virus we’re told is indiscriminate, it’s absolutely killing Blacks at a massive rate! So why aren’t our elected officials doing more to help us?
I was raised in Detroit and now I run a business in Detroit. I spent the better part of last week trying to figure out how to keep my employees on their health care insurance while scouring the world for personal protection equipment on behalf of front-line medical workers in need. This week, I find myself forgiving the debts of cash strapped customers while scouring the country looking for refrigerated trucks on behalf of a city in mourning.
These are tough days and while America will emerge stronger, we must ensure that African Americans are neither left behind in our recovery nor are we ever put in this position again.
We are all created equal but each into unequal circumstances. COVID-19 does not discriminate but it is more dangerous to people with comorbidities like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and respiratory illness. Socio-economic immobility and lack of access to quality nutrition and health care are all contributing factors to the damage COVID-19 is doing to the Black community.
The truth is for too long both parties have neglected African Americans. The lack of results from one party and the lack of effort from the other is causing Black people to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 than any other demographic in the Country. COVID-19, as both natural and man-made disasters always do, has unmasked generations of disinvestment in and exploitation of African Americans.
For now, we need the leaders that we have to get the resources and the data that we need to get us through this crisis. Moving forward, however, we deserve friends in both parties. We deserve more diversity and real-world experience in our elected leadership. We deserve a 21st Century urban agenda that focuses on economic security and health and wellness. We deserve politicians with a personal stake in addressing generational poverty among blacks in Michigan and around the Country. How quickly and how sustainably we emerge from this pandemic and systemic inequality depends on our representation, because representation matters.
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