Thread by @kgosztola

Bernie Sanders is hosting another virtual chat on the coronavirus. This one will focus on the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on African Americans.

Watch here:

Thread on livestream.

Bernie: In Louisiana, 70 percent of people who have died are African Americans. But African Americans make up one-third of population. #CoronavirusUSA

Bernie: In Milwaukee, WI, where unbelievably enough there is an election today—that's a whole other story—twice as many black residents have tested positive compared to white residents, while comprising only 27% of the population. #CoronavirusUSA

Bernie: In Chicago, IL, African Americans make up more than half of all positive coronavirus cases. Make up 72 percent of coronavirus-related deaths and yet account for only 29 percent of the population. #CoronavirusUSA

Bernie: What we are seeing is African American communities is suffering at a far higher rate than the white communities. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley says many black people cannot simply stay at home. They work in "essential services," and they are at high risk of getting the coronavirus. Plus, lack personal protective equipment to prevent contracting disease. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley: Not only can most black people not stay at home but have more chronic health problems that put black people at high risk of dying from coronavirus (diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc) #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley lists off what can ameliorate disparity between black and white Americans—

Raise minimum wage to at least $15. Need to eliminate homelessness. Several billionaires could write a check. We need federal jobs guarantee. Ban fracking. #CoronavirusUSA

Briahna Joy Gray says early on especially, one of ways you could be tested by COVID-19 is if you'd traveled abroad. Black Americans less likely to be able to avoid global travel so they weren't being tested. #CoronavirusUSA

Briahna Joy Gray: What you see in Milwaukee, WI, is community particularly hard hit by economic conditions.

Significant number of African American men worked in industrial west jobs. They were greatly impacted by trade agreements. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Barbara Ransby: I'm in Chicago. "Really can't speak about pandemic in colorblind terms."

Need to understand intimate relationship between race and class. As AOC said, a pre-condition is poverty. Race and poverty set stage for crisis. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Barbara Ransby: Movement for Black Lives is putting people first, which contrasts with those who are profiting off the coronavirus crisis.

Ransby mentions solidarity caravan that circled Cook County Jail to protest for release of detainees #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Barbara Ransby: Everything we are before the crisis as a society as a people, that's how we show up in the crisis. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Darrick Hamilton: Black people have low wealth. Inadequate health insurance. Work in jobs that are more precarious. Lower wages. Extended family networks to care for because of larger networks of poverty. Environmental degradation. All contribute to crisis. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Darrick Hamilton: Green New Deal says threat of unemployment should be removed. Federal government has responsibility to ensure adequate wages and adequate benefits #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley: Some people say Medicare for All won't cure racism. For me, that's such a silly thing to say. Slavery didn't cure racism but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have done it. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley: With Medicare For All, we could train medical professionals to provide culturally competent care.

Also, if first doctor doesn't treat you well, African Americans could afford going to second doctor for better opinion. #CoronavirusUSA

Briahna Joy Gray says free public colleges and universities, or fully funding HBCUs, would prevent African Americans from incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. They would be able to complete advanced degrees. #CoronavirusUSA

Briahna Joy Gray: Twelve years after we graduate, the average African American tends to have more debt than when they graduated because of interest rates. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Darrick Hamilton: Millennials have gone through two economic crises. Yet, we told millennials pathway toward success was through education, and we burdened them.

Later adds education should be a right we guarantee in America #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Barbara Ransby: We need to democratize education, K-12. Address overcrowded and underfunded public schools. This is piece of puzzle of making higher education a human right. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Barbara Ransby says incarceration targets poor black and Latinx people of color. People leave prisons and return to communities after enduring discrimination. They're wounded, and that's part of landscape of coronavirus crisis. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley: Lack of access to internet is huge problem for black and brown communities. Impediment to home schooling during crisis. So many don't have laptops, etc. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Darrick Hamilton: We're telling homeless individuals to shelter in place but they have no place to shelter. Need right to shelter. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Victoria Dooley: Asthma is huge problem for communities of color, especially with environmental toxins. #CoronavirusUSA

Dr. Darrick Hamilton: "It is a pernicious society when one's identity becomes a risk factor." #CoronavirusUSA