By Maria Madison, Sc.D., Robbins House Co-President

The highest COVID-19 death rates are consistently observed among those living in the most disadvantaged counties comprising high rates of poverty, crowding, and populations of color. The root causes of the disparity are embedded in our culture, buoyed by historical policies, and can only be remedied through a “vaccine” against racism and discrimination.

For a deeper dive, see:

• Why Don’t We Know Who the Coronavirus Victims Are?
Ibram X. Kendi, Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University

• What Mutual Aid Can Do During A Pandemic
Annals of Activism, Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker 5/18/20

• Fed warns more cash is needed as US figures reveal widening inequality
The Guardian 5/13

• How Racism Is Shaping the Coronavirus Pandemic
Q&A, The New Yorker, 5/7/20

• The Intersectional Failures That COVID Lays Bare,
Six-part YouTube series Under the Blacklight with Kimberlé Crenshaw, Executive Director, African American Policy Forum