An Early Look at COVID-19, Cultural and Racial Bias in America
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Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly Volume 48 Number 3 Spring 2021 Article 3 Spring 2021 The Demographics of Death: An Early Look at COVID-19, Cultural and Racial Bias in America Eddie Bernice Johnson Lawrence J. Trautman Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Eddie Bernice Johnson and Lawrence J. Trautman, The Demographics of Death: An Early Look at COVID-19, Cultural and Racial Bias in America, 48 HASTINGS CONST. L.Q. 357 (2021). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol48/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF DEATH: AN EARLY LOOK AT COVID-19, CULTURAL AND RACIAL BIAS IN AMERICA The Demographics of Death: An Early Look at COVID-19, Cultural and Racial Bias in America by U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON* LAWRENCE J. TRAUTMAN** * Congresswoman Johnson is Chair of the House Committee on Sci- ence, Space, and Technology and serving her 14th term representing the 30th Congressional District of Texas. Among other activities she served as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 107th Congress and is founder and co-chair of the Congressional Homelessness Caucus. ** BA, The American University; MBA, The George Washington University; J.D., Oklahoma City University School of Law. Mr. Trautman is Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics at Prai- rie View A&M University. He may be contacted at Lawrence.J.Tra- [email protected]. Abstract During late 2019, reports emerged that a mysterious coronavirus was resulting in high contagion and many deaths in Wuhan, China. In just a few weeks, cases rose quickly in Seattle, spread to California, and the first in- stance of the virus appeared in New York (from Iran) on March 1, 2020. As the months pass, it is abundantly clear that less wealthy Americans have far fewer options amid the new normal of shelter-in-place orders, school closings, and shuttered businesses. For example, the poor and other populations may be genetically pre-disposed to heart disease and diabetic issues, but poverty also dictates cheaper diets high in carbohydrates (maca- roni and cheese, pasta, rice, etc.) and more likely to result in poor nutrition. COVID-19 lays bare the fundamental racism in U.S. culture and public pol- icy, but the virus does not care about personal wealth, religion, or race. En- lightened self-interest dictates that we take care of the least fortunate among us. From a global perspective, COVID-19 is an issue that impacts [357] THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF DEATH: AN EARLY LOOT AT COVID-19, CULTURAL AND RACIAL BIAS IN AMERICA 358 HASTINGS CONSTITUTIONAL LAW QUARTERLY Vol. 48:3 and threatens us all. Census data reveals that sixty percent of Black Ameri- cans (42.5 million) live in just ten U.S. states. Is the super concentration of Black Americans in cities a factor in the disease ratios? Hyper-exposure to fast-food and sugary drinks is genuinely a factor in obesity and diabetes in old age. People use words such as apocalyptic to describe the 2020 Ameri- can pandemic experience. As year 2021 begins, over 400,000 U.S. deaths have been reported and it is obvious that the U.S. caseload leads the world with over 25 million infected. Keywords: African Americans, Asian Americans, Blacks, Centers for Dis- ease Control (CDC), COVID-19, crisis, demographics, diseases of despair, economics, Ebola, employment, ethics, health insurance, herd immunity, Hispanic, homelessness, income disparity, Latinx, minorities, national secu- rity, Native Americans, pandemic, police violence, poverty, policy, public health, race, unemployment, virus, World Health Organization Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................... 360 I. Pandemic and COVID-19 ........................................................... 363 II. A Demographic Tour of America ............................................. 366 A. Who We Are: The Basics ............................................................. 367 B. Age and Growth of Racial Minorities .......................................... 367 C. Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy .......................................... 370 D. Gender, Education and the Homeless .......................................... 371 III. Race in America ....................................................................... 372 A. Centuries of Racism ..................................................................... 374 B. The Death of George Floyd and Widespread Violent Protests .... 375 IV. Income and Wealth Disparity .................................................. 377 A. The Widening Gap Between the Haves and Have-Nots .............. 377 B. The Very Rich Have Better Options ............................................ 378 C. The Demographics of Poverty, Health, and Health Insurance ..... 379 V. Health, Race, and Pandemic ..................................................... 381 A. The Most Vulnerable Among Us ................................................. 382 B. Blacks and Latinos ....................................................................... 382 C. The Requirement for Widespread Testing ................................... 391 D. The Elderly ................................................................................... 392 E. Prison Populations ........................................................................ 395 F. Native Americans ......................................................................... 397 G. Asian Americans .......................................................................... 398 VI. Diseases of Despair ................................................................... 400 A. Police Violence, Chronic Stress, and Health Impact ................... 401 B. Depression .................................................................................... 403 C. Suicide .......................................................................................... 404 THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF DEATH: AN EARLY LOOK AT COVID-19, CULTURAL AND RACIAL BIAS IN AMERICA Spring 2021 DEMOGRAPHICS OF DEATH 359 D. Increased Alcohol Use and Addiction ......................................... 405 E. Spouse Abuse and Family Violence ............................................. 406 VII. Employment and Race ............................................................ 406 A. Is This Time Really Different? .................................................... 408 B. Who Are the Essential Workers and First Responders? .............. 410 C. Inherently Vulnerable Occupations .............................................. 412 D. Medical Professionals .................................................................. 412 E. Nursing and Retirement Home Workers ...................................... 414 F. Meat Packing Plant Workers ........................................................ 415 VIII. The Trump Administration and COVID-19 ....................... 417 A. Warning Signals Ignored ............................................................. 418 B. The Virus Testing Debacle ........................................................... 421 C. Trump in Denial ........................................................................... 423 D. Infections Increase at an Alarming Rate ...................................... 426 E. Face Masks and Social Distancing ............................................... 429 IX. A Critique of the Data .............................................................. 430 A. CDC and the Data Challenge ....................................................... 432 B. Trump Administration Complicit in Data Cover-Up? ................. 434 C. Big Data Fails the Poor ................................................................ 437 D. FDA Halts Seattle Program? ........................................................ 437 X. Technological Challenges, Opportunity, and Impact ............. 438 A. Big Tech, COVID-19 Contact Tracing Versus Privacy Rights ... 438 B. China, Iran, Russia and Hacks of COVID-19 Research .............. 440 XI. Police Violence and Unrest ...................................................... 442 A. Protests and the Pandemic ............................................................ 442 XII. Policy Prescriptions ................................................................ 443 A. Learning from What Works ......................................................... 443 B. Global Nation State Interdependence ........................................... 446 C. China / U.S. Relations .................................................................. 451 D. Improving Vaccination Rates ....................................................... 452 E. Importance of Effective Communications During Crisis ............. 454 F. National Child Care Required ...................................................... 456 G. Increased Funding for U.S. and International Public Health ....... 456 XIII. Conclusion .............................................................................. 458 THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF DEATH: AN EARLY LOOT AT COVID-19, CULTURAL AND RACIAL BIAS IN AMERICA 360 HASTINGS CONSTITUTIONAL LAW QUARTERLY