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COVID-19 has presented a
sequence of events enabling government and healthcare
officials repeatedly to determine who lives and who dies.
The following are two scenarios which put African Americans
at the center of current decision-making.
Who gets the coronavirus
vaccine first?
If priorities for the
vaccine distribution follow the pattern for other public
policies, people of color will be well down the list.
Black Americans have
already been hit hardest by COVID-19 compared to others. The
evidence is clear that blacks and other ethnic minorities
get sick and die from the coronavirus at higher rates and
lack opportunities to be healthy than other groups’
experience.
And, institutional racism
and bias in the healthcare system combined with inequities
in access and utilization are to blame for these worse
outcomes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Yet, as the release of an
FDA-approved coronavirus vaccine nears, it remains uncertain
whether Blacks will have the fair access required to keep
their community safe.
I have been told that
powerful local companies are forcing nonessential workers to
complete their tasks in buildings where “COVID is running
crazy.” Several people have been sent home for exhibiting
symptoms. But, “management could care less and want us in
this building working when WE ALL can do this work from home
safely,” they say. The employees have contacted the
Toledo-Lucas County Health Department but have not received
a response.
As the community waits for
distribution in trouble spots like that above,
African-Americans disproportionately get sick, suffer and
die.
Still, given the
community’s great need for the soon-to-be-distributed
vaccine, trust remains an issue dating back to the U.S.
government’s violation of ethical standards in the Tuskegee
Syphilis Study and other studies involving black human
research subjects.
The government should
prioritize the black community’s access to the vaccine given
its disproportionate share of COVID’s risk, adverse
outcomes, and racial inequities in the healthcare system.
Along with other community health advocates, I also urge the
government to work with black medical personnel, churches,
and other community groups to develop a comprehensive
program to educate the community on the vaccine’s safety.
Running a Small Business
or Social Enterprise While Black:
Whereas inequities exist
in healthcare, there are also glaring inequities in black
small businesses. Black entrepreneurs and business owners
face their own set of challenges, according to a 2020 report
by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses. These
obstacles include difficulties in obtaining funding, hiring
full-time employees, maintaining, and growing their
businesses,
Black women entrepreneurs
have it even harder. Although they are the most highly
educated group, Black women’s median revenue generates less
than half of that for white male entrepreneurs, according to
Goldman Sachs.
While the COVID-19 crisis
has wiped out 20 percent of all small businesses, nearly
half of black-owned small businesses may not survive the
pandemic and related economic recession.
Also, an often-overlooked
segment of community wealth and capital African Americans is
the nonprofit industry. While a third of nonprofits risk
closure, 50 percent of black nonprofits are likely to
shutter. Although frequently marginalized, black nonprofits
are likely not merely to be community-based, but also are
primarily community-centered. Many
organizations are located or based in minority areas but are
operated by those outside the community. In those instances,
income is removed without providing meaningful outcomes in
the community in which operations are located.
On the other hand,
community-centered organizations, although unduly
marginalized, create jobs for the community, improve the
area with a thriving business, and contribute to a more
economically stable neighborhood.
According to Chris Raab,
author of Invisible Capital, community-centered
businesses and nonprofits partner with Community Development
Corporations (CDCs), local school districts, Small Business
Development Centers, and many others.
Therefore, it is
imperative these “people-centered” business and social
enterprises that have a history of serving and are “community-centered,
collaborative, collective not-for-profit organizations,
credit unions; and community-controlled” organizations not
only survive during the pandemic but thrive.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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