Public health officials in Boston kicked off last fall’s back-to-school season with a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic aimed at combating the large racial disparities in vaccinations among young children. Local news reported that hundreds of Bostonians turned out to the event, creating a line “further than the eye could see” through the city’s Franklin Park. […]
coronavirus
Posted inHealth, Maternal Health
Medical Racism’s Role in the Recent Spike in Maternal Mortality
The coronavirus exacerbated the effects of medical racism already baked into the United States health care system, leading to a spike in Black maternal mortality rates between 2020 and 2021, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals. The recent statistics, though bleak, come as no surprise to maternal health experts, who […]
Posted inHealth
STD Rates Are on the Rise. Are Black Communities More Open To Talking About Them?
Most people refused to talk to Shirlene Lightsey Manuel when she first appeared on their church steps a couple of years ago. The pastors, first ladies and deaconesses didn’t want to talk about HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. They would tell her the disease wasn’t a problem in their congregations. But statistics […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
The Pandemic Worsened Racial Achievement Gaps. Making up the Difference Won’t Be Easy.
Virtual schooling during the pandemic has had a debilitating effect on academic progress for Black and Hispanic students, expanding already wide test-score gaps with their white counterparts, according to a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. Those learning losses will have “major impacts” on Black and Hispanic students’ future financial earnings, […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Schools Have Reopened, But Some Black Students Aren’t Going Back
For Angela Carter Iwu, her youngest child’s first year of school was fraught with frustrations. As a relatively quiet 5-year-old, his tricky transition to the rhythms of kindergarten was further complicated by weekly phone calls from the teacher recounting to Iwu his shortcomings as a student. Her highly acclaimed suburban-Houston school district failed to measure […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
Talking About COVID-19’s Racial Disparities Makes White People Care Less. But There’s An Exception.
Soon after COVID-19 spread across the United States, the racial disparities became clear: Black Americans’ chances of dying after infection were — and remain — twice that of white Americans. The realization spurred discussion in news reports across the country about health inequities. But highlighting the racial disparities in COVID-19 infection and death made some white […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
As COVID Precautions Drop, Black Americans Remain More Affected — and More Concerned
Pastor Robert Pope has been talking about COVID-19 since the virus first took hold. He talks about it at the gas station, at restaurants, and – most frequently – at his church. Pope has made Encanto Southern Baptist Church in San Diego a hub for pandemic education, testing and vaccination. He’s been following the statistics, […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
COVID-19 Remains the Great Unequalizer
Soon after the coronavirus arrived in the United States, the racial inequities of its devastating toll became apparent: Black people were dying at twice the rate of whites. The data shocked some Americans. Others panicked. The role that race and ethnicity play in Americans’ health outcomes became headline news as the numbers were broadcast across […]