Systemic Racism: A Public Health Crisis
Source: ABC
There are two pandemics upon us.
A few weeks ago, my roommate and I stumbled upon Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj while browsing through Netflix. His set "Homecoming King" begins with a series of classic digs at brown immigrant parenting that are all too familiar to me, and she doesn't get why I'm laughing uncontrollably but watches me, amused.
Soon, he's talking about living in America during 9/11 as a Indian-American Muslim family and the death threats his parents received over the phone from a classmate. He recalls what his dad said to him at the time, and I get chills. "These things happen, and these things will continue to happen. That's the price we pay for being here."
I think about a Black Lives Matter protest I attended recently in Cambridge Commons, where I witnessed a high school girl passionately and eloquently reprimand the world for treating her as something less than a human being, simply because of the color of her skin. Her words were like fire, my heart ached as her voice got louder, and the more she spoke, the more I felt disgusted at the price she - and many others - were paying for being here.
There are two pandemics upon us. Though COVID-19 may have blindsided us, there's another that we've willfully turned a blind eye to, one that's been brewing for centuries. Some condemn the sudden surge of BLM protests, arguing that combating racism should take a backseat until the health crisis is over. But some people don't have the privilege to fight just one pandemic at a time.
I think about the virtual summer program I'm currently directing and the families it serves. The majority are from low-income communities of color in South Boston, the same communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Many of these families have one or more parents who lost their jobs, as well as food insecurity and mental health concerns. One parent reached out to me, concerned about navigating healthy options and her kids’ food allergies with the various food distribution sites across Boston. She said that we weren't doing enough simply by providing a list of resources. I felt helpless in the moment, unsure of how to get her what her family needed. But when I thought about what she had said to me, I realized she was right. We're not doing nearly enough.
Systemic racism means that, yes, black Americans are being killed by police violence, but it also means that socioeconomic statuses leading to health inequities are being perpetuated. Health is largely determined by the physical environment in which we live - our access to employment, housing, education, food, and a clean outdoor space are all factors contributing to health. Communities of color in America have faced disparities in all of these categories for generations.
The pandemic has only brought these disparities to light. With COVID-19, the majority of essential workers continuing to work and put themselves at risk are black and brown Americans. Implicit racial bias means that this group of people receive worse care if they do contract the virus. Systemic racism also means that they're more likely to have underlying health conditions that could further endanger them.
As I wash the dishes and stare blankly out the window, I can hear Hasan's word echoing in my head. "Why is it every time the collateral damage has to be death for us to talk about this?" As the Black Lives Matter movement slowly starts to disappear from Instagram posts and Facebook events, it’s hard not to wonder whether it will take another pandemic to bring racial health disparities and anti-racism action back to the surface. I turn off the faucet, walk back to my room, and collapse onto my bed, exhausted. Shutting my eyes, I know that sleep is a lost cause yet again. My jumbled thoughts are uncomfortably loud, and they slowly merge into one unsettling question. Why only now?
Sources:
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302903