2/The implications of these #disparities run far deeper than simple differences in rates of morbidity and mortality. I applaud all of those shedding light on these #inequities, but we need action, and we need it now. @valstonemd @drlouiseivers #COVID19 #SDOH
3/A majority of our #EssentialWorkers, our #FrontLineHeroes, come from minority communities; these are the individuals putting themselves at risk to do the invisible work without which our society would collapse. @JoiaMukherjee #COVID19
4/I'm talking about our #GroceryWorkers, store clerks, our bus operators and our hospital janitors.
h/t @DrOniBee
h/t @DrOniBee
5/I'm talking about our #farmworkers, many of which are undocumented, or our #Haitian workers who are being deported. The list goes on and on. h/t @cindypabon @HaitiJustice
6/Those who are not lucky enough to have jobs in #essentialwork are losing their economic livelihoods at disproportionate rates as a result of #socialdistancing.
usatoday.com/story/news/nat… via @USATODAY
usatoday.com/story/news/nat… via @USATODAY
7/To summarize: Members of our marginalized communities are either dying from #COVID19 at staggeringly disproportionate rates, being asked to undertake risky work, at staggeringly disproportionate rates, or losing their economic livelihoods at staggeringly disproportionate rates.
8/The lucky ones, like me, are asked to bear witness, to deal with the psychological trauma of watching my community decimated by a new disease, yet again, while working in a system that is uniquely designed to discriminate against them. There is no winning here. @greggonsalves
9/These #inequities are not new. They are most definitely not surprising. We have been suffering from and struggling against them for as long as we can remember. @michellemorse @DrMaryTBassett
10/But there is so much we can do. I found guidance in this proposal by @CamaraJones, that we focus on:
1. Valuing all individuals and populations EQUALLY.
2. Recognizing and RECTIFYING historical injustices.
3. Providing resources according to NEED.
1. Valuing all individuals and populations EQUALLY.
2. Recognizing and RECTIFYING historical injustices.
3. Providing resources according to NEED.
11/Alternatively, we can pretend that this is the first time this is happening, ignore 400 years of inequity, and continue passing policy that supports the privileged at the expense of the poor. @LashNolen #COVID19 #SDOH
12/We have 2 choices for #COVID19 : we can perpetuate patterns of old, where we act surprised as a new disease uncovers our longstanding structural inequities, or we can do something to fix them, now, and bend the arc of our national values closer towards justice. @DrMaryTBassett
