Let’s get this straight- Covid-19 is hard for everyone. Whether you’re struggling through another week of Zoom University or making over 800 calls to apply for unemployment insurance, Covid-19 has provoked unprecedented change in the way we work, live, and socialize. However, Covid-19 is far from being a “great equalizer.” Despite acting as a common denominator of widespread difficulty and disruption, Covid-19 has exacerbated existing disparities of privilege in American society, particularly for members of marginalized communities.
Here are three of the many ways in which Covid-19 has intensified existing inequalities:
1. Unemployment
Having a job, especially one that allows you to work from home, has become a fortuitous privilege at a time when over 26 million Americans are filing for unemployment and less than 30 percent of workers are able to work from home. Many of the workers in industries at a higher risk of pandemic-related job losses earn lower-than-average wages and do not have access to crucial benefits like paid leave. Furthermore, many of these workers belong to marginalized communities. For instance, almost 60 percent of job losses in March belonged to women, who tend to dominate hard-hit sectors like the restaurant industry. Thus, many already struggling to make ends meet and without a sufficient stash of savings to weather the storm will slip further down the economic ladder as the financial repercussions of the global pandemic are fully fleshed out.
2. Racial Discrimination
As the entire nation struggles to cope with Covid-19, Asian-Americans shoulder the additional stigma surrounding the so-called “Chinese virus.” Ranging from verbal attacks to “go back to China” to physical assaults resulting in injuries that require stitches, hate incidents have been reported by hundreds of Asian-Americans bearing the brunt of blind bigotry. Everyday tasks like grocery shopping or taking public transportation have escalated into fearful opportunities for further stigmatization.
Additionally, while American companies across the board, from Coca-Cola to small businesses, have felt the chilling economic effects of the global pandemic, Asian-American businesses were feeling the pain long before social distancing became a national lifestyle. Some Chinatown restaurants faced business declines as high as 50% back when health officials were still assuring the public of low risk and encouraging business as usual.
Asian Americans are far from the only minority group bearing the weight of racial discrimination. Black men have expressed fear that wearing masks to protect against the virus will expose them to a different kind of threat- racial profiling, reflecting a longstanding history of discriminatory racial incidents. This fear is especially concerning in light of data demonstrating that, in several states, black residents are falling ill and dying due to Covid-19 at disproportionately high rates. While the data is currently too limited to warrant a conclusive outcome, these statistics shine a glaring spotlight on embedded public health inequalities that black Americans have been experiencing for decades.
3. Income Inequality
Virtual reality may replace the real world for now, but over 21 million Americans lack access to high-speed internet, deepening the existing digital divide that is becoming even more pronounced as school, work, and social life migrate online. Barriers of affordability, technology training, and access to devices disproportionately affect low-income households and people of color. The educational experience of some of the country’s most vulnerable children suffers as schools struggle to scrap together solutions for their digitally disadvantaged students.
Families on already thin budgets may need to stretch their dollars even further as global economic conditions crumble, leaving their pantries in a precarious state of insecurity. Food banks are struggling to keep up with the demand as more and more Americans are plunged into the depths of financial insecurity and donated food supplies dwindle. Additionally, the 29.7 million children who relied on free or reduced-price school lunches find their regular source of nutrition taken away as schools shut down, resulting in a scramble for makeshift delivery solutions.
Furthermore, low-income households already struggling to pay rent face uncertain futures as social distancing remains the standard and grace periods run dry. While moving in with family is a last-resort option for struggling renters, not all have the privilege of family to fall back on.
With food, shelter, and virtual connection falling out of reach of some of America’s most vulnerable families, it is as if Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has come crashing down on a foundational level.
Of course, there are countless other facets of inequality heightened by Covid-19, and Novel Hand has done a phenomenal job of shining light on what they are and how you can help. If you want to learn more, I’d love to point you to my fellow contributors’ articles on incarceration, homelessness, domestic violence, and how to help.
Although Covid-19 has created and exacerbated so many problems on an overwhelming scale, please remember that it’s not our job to be superheroes- it’s our job to be human beings who take care of ourselves and each other. As these inequalities are brought to light, we must not sink under the shame of privilege but instead channel privilege into becoming an effective ally for our neighbors.
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