Bold policies urged to address inequities highlighted by COVID-19

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation forum reflects strong impetus to cure structural deficiencies highlighted by virus' effect on black community

By R. T. Andrews

“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” ― Samuel Johnson

There is a growing sense of urgency in the black community these days that is long overdue. The catalyst, of course, is undoubtedly the sobering realization that the novel coronavirus, which is no respecter of persons in general, is killing black people at a disproportionate rate that can neither be denied or ignored.

Wherever statistics about the rate of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and morbidity are being compiled, the results show alarming and outrageous disparities between the black and white communities.

In some places, Ohio and Michigan among them, state-sponsored task forces are gathering to study the data, ascertain the causes, and propose solutions. But the reasons why African Americans are disproportionately being felled by the disease are not really in dispute. When there are massive inequities going in, there will be massive inequities coming out.

Equality is an aspirational goal in the United States, one that has been effectively on the wane since at least 1981 and the inauguration of Ronald Reagan. The hollowing out of the middle class has pushed millions of Americans close to the brink of financial ruin. The mortgage meltdown of 2008, which had consequences so predictable — including the loss of roughly half of the hard-fought wealth of black families — that its onset can only be described as criminally reckless, deepened the structural deficiencies in the black community brought on by decades of government policies and private actions.

“There is nothing wrong with black people that ending racism won’t solve.” — Andre Perry, Brookings Institution

Governmental task forces like the one initiated by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine have been, with some exceptions, typically been a time-honored way of kicking problematic political cans down the road. This current pandemic is going to change our society in ways most of us have not even begun to contemplate. There will be no magic switch that turns the economy back on, that restores the time lost, especially by our youth.

We understand the Chinese word for crisis to be comprised of the characters representing “danger” and “opportunity”. In the danger black Americans especially face today may lie the opportunity to push the bold solutions necessary to redress the historic inequities the country has never fully committed to resolve.

“Capitalism is like a wolf. Government is like the dentist. The question is, will the dentist [i.e., public policy] sharpen or smooth the wolf’s teeth.” — Dr. Julianne Malveaux

In the danger black Americans especially face today may lie the opportunity to push the bold solutions necessary to redress the historic inequities the country has never fully committed to resolve.

Menna Demessie, Vice President of Research & Policy
Analysis, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Inc

An awareness of this possibility of serious structural reform was evident in the online 90 minute panel discussion hosted today by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation [CBCF]. Serious scholars, including several from this region — Menna Demessie of the CBCF is an alumna of Western Reserve Academy and Oberlin College; Darrick Hamilton, who directs the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University, is also a Oberlin grad, and Brookings Institution fellow Andre Perry hails from Pittsburgh —  were among those in lively debate about the advocacy of visionary, even radical goals, to meet the urgency of these times.

Andre M. Perry, Ph.D.
Brookings Institution 

For example, Perry from Brookings argued cogently that to deal with the structural inequalities faced by black people requires both medium and long-term objectives. He said that broadband service should be a public utility, much like highways and public parks. He also advocated for universal health care and a federal job guarantee program. He addressed long-standing myths that the sorry state of black America is a reflection of individual choices as opposed to the structural choices of this nation. “Policy works for white people,” he argued. “There is nothing wrong with black people that ending racism won’t solve.”

OSU’s Darrick Hamilton’s assessment was much the same. “Wealth begets wealth”, he noted. He suggested that most wealth in America was created with the active aid of and investment by government in [white] people, citing government giveaways and programs in finance and home ownership [land grants, federally backed mortgages, etc.], education [e.g., the G.I. bill]. He argued forthrightly that public power is immense, strong, and fully capable of addressing the nation’s needs.

“Government can do good,” he said, suggesting that much of the virulent pushback from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his ilk was their desire to avoid recognition of government’s potential by the majority of Americans.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell, D-AL

Congresswoman Terri Sewell, D-AL, was the first speaker. She spoke of the systemic disinvestment in black communities and how that is reflected in the differential outcomes being produced by the virus. She outlined the death rates for African Americans in several states far outstripped their share of the population in those states: in Alabama, 45% of deaths, only 27% of population; in Louisiana, 70% vs. 32%; in New York, 17% vs. 9%; and in Michigan, 40% vs. 14%.

Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D.

The economist Julianne Malveaux said that every catastrophe puts a face on the mirror of our inequality. She pointed out the degree to which the essential workers of our nation are people of color. African American women, for example, are six percent of the labor force, but comprise 20% of medical assistance workers. If they don’t show up, people will not be served.  She identified many other arenas where service workers are disproportionately black and on the front lines, including bus drivers.

In discussing the many differential aspects of our economic system, Malveaux touched on one sore spot that has not been widely discussed. Referencing the trillions of dollars in aid that has been spent in bailout packages, she was dubious that the wealthy corporations who have received the lion’s share of the aid will participate when the country has to pay it back.

Malveaux used a stark simile to describe the relationship between government and capitalism. “Capitalism,” she said, “is like a wolf. Government is like the dentist. The question is, will the dentist [i.e., public policy] sharpen or smooth the wolf’s teeth?”

Salene Hitchcock-Gear, President of
Prudential Individual Life Insurance

The town hall, the second in a series being presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, was underwritten by Prudential Insurance. Salene Hitchcock-Gear, president of Prudential Individual Life Insurance, addressed the question of COVID’s effect upon hundreds of thousands of small businesses, and underscored the importance of such companies having clear succession plans in place.

The entire program, “Understanding the Economic Outcomes of COVID-19 & the Stimulus Package for Black America”, is available on Facebook here, and is well worth watching. The first CBCF program, focused on the 2020 Census, can be viewed here.

The next panel discussion, scheduled for May 14, 2020 from noon-1:30PM EDT, will focus on current water governance and workforce challenges, and how to ensure safe, affordable services exist for marginalized communities. Registration is available here.

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Last Updated May 1, 2020 @ 1207.