Why Social Justice Is Central to Treating COVID-19

Recent data shows that Black, Latino, indigenous, and immigrant communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, in large part because of the persistent legacy of structural racism—practices and policies that systematically benefit White people and harm people of color.

From the Bronx and Queens, New York, to the Mission District in San Francisco, to the Navajo Nation and Black communities of New Orleans, Detroit, and Oakland, California, the message is clear: COVID-19 highlights our societal failures at the intersections of public health, health care, and social justice. If health inequities weren’t severe and oppressive enough, add the layer of police brutality that takes Black lives on a regular basis. No matter where we look, our system has continually devalued Black bodies and lives.