COVID-19 and living during the pandemic is something we have all experienced and have seen what the world has come to be post-pandemic. Furthermore, COVID-19 and the events following the pandemic have only worked to unveil systematic injustices embedded in our country. Healthcare should be equally accessible to all and COVID revealed that is unfortunately not the case. Also, COVID revealed that some in the US are quick to place blame about the pandemic and discriminate against Asians. COVID and how we reacted to it, shows how injustices are present and “Othering” is at play.
To begin, COVID has created much discrimination against Asians and those of Asian descent. From the use of derogatory speech and President Trump calling COVID the “Chinese virus” to the “at least 125 physical attacks reported” (hrw.org) against Asians, to even being refused Uber services, it all adds to a negative attitude created against Asians. These racist attacks were ways of placing blame and moreover “Othering” Asians, making them take the heat for the pandemic. By creating a hostile environment around Asians in COVID times, they lose their voice in fear and thus are “Othered.”
Nevertheless, COVID also revealed another systematic injustice specifically in the healthcare system. While hospitals were under a lot of pressure, resources being stretched, and the amount of patients like never before, there was an unjust trend occurring: patients of color becoming secondary to white patients. The statistics don’t lie, showing absurd numbers where “In Louisiana, which is 33 percent Black, some 70 percent of deaths have occurred among African-Americans. Similar discrepancies can be found from New York to the Midwest to California” (Hond). Again, this is another example of systematic injustice against minorities that came to light during COVID.
All of this in mind, in a time where a country should be united, here we are “Othering” people because of race or ethnicity. COVID has showed in times of need, we still as a society are quick to place blame, fend for ones self, and have these deep biases. Instead it should be times like this, where we stop trends of systematic injustice and “Othering.”
How COVID-19 Exposed the Ugliness of Health Injustice | Columbia Magazine
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide#
Hi! Very interesting presentation. This was very informative, I did not know any of this occurred. It is sad to learn how there is systematic injustice in the health care system. And I agree, this is a time our country needs to be united and not place blame on anyone or have these deep biases just as they did in the “Othering”.
You are spot on with your presentation. COVID-19 truly did bring out an insane amount of injustices, and yet we as people are still not uniting but continuing to further the injustices and divide further from one another.
The discrimination toward Asians sky rocketed when COVID hit and hearing/seeing the various remarks, especially from a “president”, was absolutely mind boggling and heart breaking, and like you said- people of color have been hit extremely hard by COVID in comparison to white people, but this fact is “hushed” in the news.
We as a society need to do so much better than this, especially with circumstances as serious as an on-going pandemic.