US Bishops urge leaders to
examine impact of Covid-19 on African Americans
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| Coronavirus Covid-19 African Americans dying at greater rates (ANSA) |
As evidence emerges showing that the African American
population has been disproportionately hard-hit by the new coronavirus
infections, US bishops urge state and national leaders to examine and tackle
the structural conditions underlying this reality.
By Linda Bordoni
“Our hearts are wounded,” US Catholic bishops say,
“for the many souls mourned as African American communities across the nation
are being disproportionately infected with and dying from the virus that causes
Covid-19.”
“We raise our voices,” they continue in a statement released
on Monday, “to urge state and national leaders to examine the generational and
systemic structural conditions that make the new coronavirus especially deadly
to African American communities.”
Minority populations hardest-hit
As nations and communities continue to battle the emergency,
evidence has emerged showing that infections from the coronavirus are
disproportionately high in areas with high minority populations, and it reveals
the devastating emotional toll the virus is taking on African and Latino
Americans.
A poll from Fordham University also notes that African
Americans are more likely than either white or Latino Americans to be on the
front lines of the coronavirus pandemic with higher proportions still required
to show up to a workplace, and higher rates of reported personal infection, and
of the death of someone they personally know.
Released in the wake of this evidence, the US Conference of
Catholic Bishops’ statement is signed by Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, chairman of
the Conference’s Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and by other prelates engaged
in Domestic Justice and Human Development, in Cultural Diversity and in African
American Affairs.
Support of the bishops
It says the bishops “Stand in support of all communities
struggling under the weight of the impact this virus has had not only on their
physical health, but on their livelihoods.”
It notes that amongst those particularly hard-hit are “front
line medical and sanitation workers, public safety officers, and those in the
service industry.”
The US bishops conclude saying they are “praying fervently
for an end to the pandemic, and for physical health for all, and emotional
healing amongst all who have lost loved ones.”
To date, 1,213,010 coronavirus cases have been reported
in the United States The death toll stands at 69,925 and 188,068 infected
persons have officially recovered. A poll conducted by NORC at the University
of Chicago says that a substantially higher percentage of African American
respondents report having been diagnosed with the virus.
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