The Intersection between Covid-19 and Environmental Racism - Patricia Feng
- EqualiSci Group
- May 3, 2021
- 2 min read
When looking at those disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, it goes beyond those living in areas of lower income or communities with high rates of poverty. Very clearly, communities of colour are more susceptible to COVID-19 compared to their white counterparts. While poverty does play a role in the criteria of high-risk areas, racial disparities are exacerbating the gap.
Harriet A. Washington writes, “African Americans who earn US$50,000–60,000 annually — solidly middle class — are exposed to much higher levels of industrial chemicals, air pollution and poisonous heavy metals, as well as pathogens, than profoundly poor white people with annual incomes of $10,000,” in her article discussing how the pandemic has been fuelling environmental racism. The systems that are perpetuating environmental racism need to be looked at and reflected upon - these institutions and the lack of action by the majority of the general public are leading to physical and social vulnerabilities.
Perhaps closer to home for many of us is the experience of Indigenous communities across Canada. Across the country, several industrial projects were given the go-ahead in Spring 2020, which led workers into remote communities. However, at the same time, many of their Indigenous co-workers went home to their families. Raina Delisle writes that “this has all put Indigenous people at higher risk of catching COVID-19 when they’re already more vulnerable to the disease due to long-standing health inequities, including disproportionate exposure to polluting industries and lack of access to health care.” Many critique these actions claiming that allowing these industrial projects to continue is knowingly putting Indigenous communities at risk and prolongs Canada’s participation in environmental racism.
This leads well into the idea that COVID-19 is feeding off of historically marginalized communities. These neighbourhoods experience higher exposure to environmental pollution as well as decreased access to adequate health care and as such, will become hot spots for a growing pandemic. It becomes imperative then to reduce these inequalities by collecting and sharing better data. One that is inclusive of both economic status, as well as rates by social factors such as race and housing. Harriet Washington notes, “In the 1990s, health scholars and practitioners were caught unaware by the higher rates of HIV infection and mortality in communities of colour. The pattern is being repeated in deaths from COVID-19.” This is not a surprise to us, this continuing pattern needs to be addressed to proceed into a more equitable future.
The response to outbreaks such as the coronavirus needs to be accommodating of differences in race, both in their research as well as their treatment. With vaccine rollout in Canada underway, it will be important to note the differences in access between communities. In the midst of a health crisis, these disparities are truly the difference between life and death.
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