[Protesters are in the streets demonstrating against police
brutality and white supremacy to protect themselves and their
communities because institutions have been killing black people in
this country far longer than the coronavirus has. ]
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RACISM IS A DEADLY VIRUS, TOO: A PUBLIC HEALTH DEFENSE OF THESE MASS
PROTESTS  
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Mary Bassett, Caroline Buckee and Nancy Krieger
June 5, 2020
New York Daily News
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_ Protesters are in the streets demonstrating against police
brutality and white supremacy to protect themselves and their
communities because institutions have been killing black people in
this country far longer than the coronavirus has. _

, Wes Parnell/New York Daily News / AP/Paul Sancya

 

The horrific murder of George Floyd, who suffered nearly nine
agonizing minutes of crushing weight on his neck and body while
handcuffed on the ground, on the heels of the vigilante killing of
Ahmaud Arbery and the police killing of Breonna Taylor, asleep in her
bed, has sent thousands of protesters of all race and ethnicities into
the streets across the U.S. As peaceful protest and civic unrest
engulf the nation, the rallying cry is for a more just world where all
are assured not only safety and their basic human rights but the
resources needed for a decent life.

But some commentators, inside and outside of public health, are
questioning the wisdom of these anti-racist protests, concerned they
will increase the spread of COVID-19 and worsen existing racial,
ethnic and economic inequities in COVID-19 deaths. Some even compare
these risks to those posed by the anti-lockdown protests against
COVID-19 regulations.

As public health professionals with expertise in infectious disease
epidemiology, social epidemiology and public health and clinical
practice, we categorically reject these false equivalencies.

The anti-lockdown protests
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in their quest to open up the economy rapidly, have sought to minimize
regulation of workplaces, social venues and personal health practices,
like wearing masks. For example, the website for the April 17, 2020
protest
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the Idaho capitol in Boise stated: “We feel that wearing face masks
and gloves is counterproductive to the movement, and should be
avoided” and asserted “We will not practice social distancing.”
The Facebook page for a demonstration at the Massachusetts State House
in Boston included a cartoon
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“Episode 160 of `They Never Said That’,” featuring U.S. WWII
troops, with the cartoon bubble saying, “We are fighting to ensure
that future Americans can be forced to wear masks.” Photos taken at
these protests show most of the protesters congregated closely, with
nary a mask in sight.

The calls for protests against police brutality and for black lives
offer a sharp contrast. In Boston, the flyer
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one of the protests urged people to: “participate safely and
observing as much as possible social distancing and personal and
collective safety. Protect each other!” Photos of this massive
protest show the vast majority of protesters — people of color and
white participants alike — wearing masks, bolstered by Boston city
workers handing out masks.

The call [[link removed]] for
another demonstration asks people to “gather while remaining
socially distant to rally our Just Anger and mourn these homicides”
and its instructions states: “We will remain socially distant at 6
feet apart,” “Please bring a mask, hand sanitizer & gloves.”
The announcement
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states: “All participants must wear masks and must socially distance
by standing at least 6 feet from the next person”

These differences matter. So does the fact that now, protesters are
taking to the street because racism kills.

The data are clear: Structural racism
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both lethal policing and the fact that black people have for centuries
lived shorter, sicker lives — and are now over three times more
likely to die of COVID-19 — compared to white Americans. As just one
illustration, consider the inadequate provision of personal protective
equipment for so-called “essential” workers, whose status as
indispensable is belied by employers’ failure to ensure safe working
conditions.

Other examples abound
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involving inequities in testing, health care, places to self-isolate,
and protection of people in jails and prisons, along with policies
that have disproportionately cast people of color and low-income
workers out of work.

Protesters are in the streets demonstrating against police brutality
and white supremacy not because they are indifferent to the risk of
COVID-19. They are doing what they can to protect themselves and their
communities precisely because the institutions that are supposed to
protect and serve them have been killing black people in this country
far longer than the coronavirus has.

_Krieger, Buckee and Bassett are professors at the Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health; Bassett is former commissioner of the New
York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene._

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