Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic and Police Brutality Against Blacks or African Americans

Cultural Assessment 4: Black/African Americans and Health Status
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Cultural Assessment 4: Health Status of Black/African Americans Compared to National Averages
The disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cases of police brutality against Blacks/African Americans, coupled with the increasing levels of hate crimes among Asians, have attracted media and public attention to the subject of race and ethnicity (Ndugga & Artiga, 2021). As social constructs, race and ethnicity continue to present significant impacts on the lives of individuals, and disparities based on these constructs have become salient factors in assessing health status and inequalities among populations. Eighty-nine percent of Blacks compared to 93% of White Americans have access to health care coverage. Although 44% of African Americans have access to government health insurance, 12% of Blacks below the age of 65 are uninsured (Carratala & Maxwell, 2020). Besides, among the 26,295,826 deaths recorded between 2016 and 2018, San Francisco recorded mortality rates of 537 per 100,000, with Las Vegas recording 1342 per 100,000. Compared to the national average of 759 per 100,000, black populations recorded mortality rates of 24% higher than among the White populations (Benjamins et al., 2021). These statistics are an indicator of the health inequity of Black/African Americans that should be addressed from the perspective of race and ethnic disparities.
Race and Ethnicity Influence the Health of Black/African Americans
Due to economic and health challenges, communities of color presented with increased susceptibility to COVID-19 infections and deaths. During the start of the pandemic, statistics indicated that while Blacks comprised 45 percent of the national population, they accounted for 29 percent of the total confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 59 percent of the total national deaths as of April 6, 2020 (Artiga et al., 2020). Disparities in economic and health care access became important factors that determined the high rates of infection and deaths among Black communities. Blacks were at increased risk for serious illnesses following infection compared to Whites due to underlying health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, and lung diseases. Besides, social and economic challenges such as poor housing and loss of income increased the risks of infections and deaths due to the disease. Furthermore, the loss of jobs resulted in serious food insecurity among Blacks, which worsened nutritional challenges in this population (Artiga et al., 2020). While the impact of the disease has been arrested with the availability of vaccines, the COVID-19 pandemic reflects the impact of race/ethnicity on the health status of Blacks.
Cultural, Socioeconomics, Educational, and Socio-Political Factors
African Americans face significant barriers to health resulting from socioeconomic, educational, cultural, and socio-political factors. While Blacks are now living longer compared to about two decades ago, a large percentage of young African Americans live with and die of serious conditions that are primarily typical to white Ame...