African Diaspora and Disparities in Healthcare in the Age of COVID-19

opinion

What can we learn from the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to face about ourselves both culturally and socioeconomically across either side of the Atlantic? A comparative look at disparities in local healthcare provision America offers a revealing perspective.

On April 17, 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 Epidemic, the governor of the state of Georgia, USA announced the opening of all barber shops, nail salons and restaurants effective April 24, 2020. Many questions arose about why he chose to open businesses that are not life preserving or considered to be essential services to the public, especially in a city like Georgia's capital Atlanta where the threat of an increase in infections is very real because the city is quite densely populated and serves over six million people within a vast metropolitan area. Noting that African Americans make up 51% of the residents of Atlanta compared to 38% whites, and given the close cultural correlation businesses like barber shops, hair salons, and liquor stores have with the socioeconomic status of many of Atlanta's black residents, critics consider Governor Kemp's decision to open these specific businesses in poor taste and prone to endanger a relatively vulnerable population.

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