COVID-19 and the Impact on Communities of Color
Since early April, the NAACP and BET have hosted a series of virtual town halls focused on the health, economic, and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the African American community.
The coronavirus has hit hard across the U.S. It’s particularly dire in rural areas and communities of color. Disparities have stressed millions of people, from economic hardships and limited access to health services to slow internet speeds and lack of internet access at home. These problems didn’t surface overnight. They’ve existed for decades, filtering into classrooms and hurting students along the way.
In part three of their four-part “Unmasked: A COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall Series, NEA Vice President Becky Pringle, along with other top, national leaders, discussed the rising educational inequalities and how legislation can mitigate the burden African American students and other students of color face.
The hour-long call was part analysis of the current realities with an enhanced understanding of the problem, but also part solution to help move the nation toward a future that is equitable and fair for everyone.
With approximately 20,000 people on the line, Pringle was quick to call out the underlying problem that has disproportionately impacted communities of color.
“Here’s the reality,” she says, “structural racism [is] the pre-existing condition that [has] destined us to be where we are—where our communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus. We shouldn’t be shocked.”
Research has long pointed to the inequitable conditions, from past to present, that CONTINUE READING: COVID-19 and the Impact on Communities of Color - NEA Today
