COVID19 is acting upon an already flawed, segregated health system and a multi-tiered for-profit insurance system that is deeply rooted in racism, privilege, and the elimination of social consciousness. #COVID19 #dismantleracism #Coronavirustruth
Think about our nation’s response to the Flint water crisis and Hurricane Katrina which took place in communities of color. Public health emergencies in primarily white communities are often taken care of before they make it to national attention.
Let’s remember that we have already been rationing care in the U.S. The largest example is our nation’s willingness to allow millions of people to go uninsured in a federally fatalistic way of conserving healthcare resources for only those who can afford it.
We ration by race in our segregated health system, where disproportionately black and brown people are uninsured or underinsured, and through structural, institutional, and interpersonal biases (when EMS providers take black patients to different hospitals than white patients).
The risk of poverty is concentrated in communities of color, people with disabilities, and the elderly. With re: COVID19, this group of people may not have access to essential goods and do not have disposable income, the ability to work from home, child care, and job security.
At the same time, these same people are now told to confine themselves in homes that may expose them to disease even more – homes with mold, poor sanitation, poor air quality and the lack of space to separate the sick from the well.
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