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In the one year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit our shores, there is much that we’ve learned, there is much that we’ve been challenged by, and there is much to look forward to. It’s been a time of collective trauma –– and yet, our spirit and resilience fighting for racial justice continues to shine bright.
Last week we reached the grim 500,000 death toll from COVID-19 –– an astounding and devastating number of the amount of life lost due to the pandemic. At the same time, we’ve begun to finally see a sharp downward trend in the number of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. This positive development coincides with the continued rollout of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, a process which has had its own challenges amidst the changing of presidential administrations and severe weather across the US.
In this second year of fighting coronavirus, we also know what we knew over a year ago –– that the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 would hit BIPOC communities the hardest. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has corroborated that Black, Latinx, and Indigenous folks are four times as likely to be hospitalized because of COVID-19. These numbers represent how dire the situation continues to be. Though receiving immunization from the vaccines promises some relief, we’re already seeing inequities in the vaccine’s rollout. In addition to a national vaccine shortage, the last presidential administration’s damaging pandemic response, and the emergence of new coronavirus variants, it’s clear the situation calls for centering racial equity to address disparities.
Conversations around vaccination in communities of color, specifically Black communities, is rooted in a cruel legacy of racism and experimentation. At a recent CNN town hall, President Biden acknowledged this painful history for Black Americans and pledged racial equity would be a priority for the administration's coronavirus efforts. Data shows more than half of Black Americans have a distrust towards the vaccine, which underscores the need for this Administration to make good on their commitment to centering a racially equitable response.
Race Forward is part of a collaborative of nine leading racial equity anchor organizations who last month called on the Biden Administration to establish a White House Office on Racial Equity and Inclusion. We’re now reiterating the pressing urgency of that call. Race Forward President Glenn Harris and APIAHF CEO Juliet Choi recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News titled “We Need a Cabinet Seat for Racial Equity.” In the piece, they discuss how the creation of an office solely focused on the task of advancing racial equity at the federal level would allow the Biden administration to truly “prioritize the resources and infrastructure needed to make an equitable, and just America a reality.”
Since last March, Race Forward has maintained that the best science supports a racial equity approach, and that a racial equity approach advances the fight against the coronavirus –– and now that we’re finally beginning to turn the page, we’ll continue meeting the moment together. Visit Race Forward’s website for all our latest updates and projects, ask a friend to subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, read Colorlines for continuing race explicit coverage of the pandemic, take a look at our Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) work, and listen to and subscribe to Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast.
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