COVID19 Racial Bias
Since the late 1970s, real wages and productivity have decoupled
Figure 1:
Productivity vs. real wages since 1973 (Gould, 2020, Figure A)
As can be seen in Figure 1, productivity gains have increased more
or less monotonically during the entire period. Those productivity gains
represent increased wealth to some portion of our population. In must be noted,
the modest gains in hourly compensation that have occurred during this period have
been unevenly spread across the economic spectrum of the U.S. As can be seen in Figure2, most of the
increase in earnings have been accrued by the wealthiest 0.1%. By comparison,
90% of the rest of wage earners in the U.S. have gained next to nothing during
the nearly 50 years covered by these data.
Figure 2:
Rate of earnings growth (Gould, 2020, Figure B)
These troubling trends in wealth distribution are even more
disturbing when viewed through the lens of race. As is shown in 2019 hourly
wages data, people of color generally, and African Americans in particular, are
paid at rates below their white counterparts at all education levels. This is
particularly egregious at the level of advanced college degrees where African
Americans are paid at a rate 17.6% below their white counterparts, on average
Figure 3:
Hourly wages by race and education (Gould, 2020, Figure P)
As a nation, we were ill prepared, culturally, organizationally,
and institutionally for the pandemic that emerged in late 2019. At the time of
the pandemic emergence, the U.S. was engaged in a long-standing debate
concerning the nature of our health care system and how that should be funded.
That debate remains to be completely resolved. What was in place at the time of
the pandemic was a combination of publicly subsidized health insurance [aka as
the Affordable Care Act (ACA – commonly referred to as ObamaCare)] or health
insurance coverage funded by employers. Having health care insurance provided
by an employer assumes one is employed. What was clear from the beginning of
the COVID19 pandemic is that the downward pressure on real wages that has been
going on since the 1970s would have devastating for those who did not have paid
sick leave or could work from home. What was also clear is there is an obvious
racial bias to who is bearing the brunt of the pandemic, economically as well
as from the disease itself. As can be seen in Figure 4, a significant majority
of the financial burdens of this pandemic have fallen on people of color
These data clearly indicate that the inequities inherent in our
economy and our social fabric have a distinct racial bias. These data show
those inequities have forced some of our citizens to be “on the front lines” of
how our country is responding to this pandemic simply because they could not
afford to stay home, away from potential exposure. These inequities have been
in place for many decades, but with this pandemic, they are more deadly.
Figure 4: Economic Impact of Pandemic (Parker et al.,
2020, p. 7)
Figure 5:
Stimulus Expectations (Parker et al., 2020, p. 12)
As the nature of
the pandemic became better understood, it became clear that the only way to
avoid contracting the disease was to avoid contact with others. Those who
could, stayed home. But who were those who could not afford to stay home? Given
the nature of the wealth transfer upon which our economy is based
Figure 6:
Percentage of Black Front-Line Workers (Gould & Wilson, 2020, Figure B)
There were many
businesses that required person-to-person contact that were not considered
essential. These businesses were dramatically impacted by the need to restrict
that contact. One might ask, how many businesses are owned by African Americans
and in what industries are those businesses?
Figure 7:
Percent of Business That are Black Owned (Gould & Wilson, 2020, Figure Q)
There is also a
distinct racial bias to the cash reserves available to families who are shut
off from their source of income because of the pandemic. This bias can be
expected considering the historic wealth gap in this society discussed earlier.
The need for these cash reserves is essential if the so-called bread winner(s)
are no longer able to work because a particular workplace is shut down.
Figure 8:
Available Cash Reserves by Race and Education (Gould & Wilson, 2020, Figure
K)
Who are dying from
this pandemic? What seems apparent is that one is more likely to die of this disease
if one is exposed to the underlying pathogen. There are other factors of
course, but the essential element of exposure is required above all else. As
has been shown, there is a disproportionate number of African Americans who are
dying because they are more likely than their white counter parts to be forced
into economic circumstances that risk exposure. There are other reasons for
increased likelihood of dying, including pre-morbidity factors
Figure 9:
Black American Deaths Out of Proportion to Population (Gould & Wilson,
2020, Figure D)
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