By MICHELLE MUELLER
Contributing Writer
©The Recorder April 23, 2020
As of today, over 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Michigan are African Americans.
Yet only 14 percent of Michiganders are black.
Why the disparity?
“We know that generations of racial disparities and inequality has a detrimental impact on the lives of people in the black community, where the health of our friends and family has been disproportionately impacted,” said Albion community leader Harry Bonner. “The coronavirus pandemic has shown this inequity to be particularly true, and because of that, we in the African American community need to make good choices right now – and take charge of our health from now on. Our local health disparity task force is working with Bob Dunklin of the NAACP to focus on that.”
“We know that generations of racial disparities and inequality has a detrimental impact on the lives of people in the black community, where the health of our friends and family has been disproportionately impacted,” said Albion community leader Harry Bonner.
Here in Calhoun County, we are a hundred miles away from the virus hotspot in Detroit. In Calhoun County to date, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has reached 156, with five deaths. Based on data from around the U.S., the county’s death percentages may well catch up to Detroit’s.
Because of this, the Calhoun County Public Health Department continues to stress the importance of following all necessary health precautions, especially the stay-at-home order.
But how well are county residents adhering to the social distancing precautions?
Data collected from mobile phones by the company Unacast rated counties throughout the country on their overall adherence to social distancing and shelter in place orders. Calhoun County received a C+, with data showing only a 40% to 55% reduction in average mobility.
So currently, Calhoun County is somewhere in between “strict” and “poor adherence” to the governor’s stay-at-home order.
So currently, Calhoun County is somewhere in between “strict” and “poor adherence” to the governor’s stay-at-home order.
One Albion African American woman, Renee Miller’s has observed poor social distancing locally:
“My daughter lives in Linconshire and she’s disabled and receives disability. I am her caregiver and quite often have to go there, pretty much daily, to care for her,” said Miller. “After we got the stay-at-home order, on the days when it was warm outside, and I would go up there. This has been a problem for Lincolnshire even before the coronavirus, each year they are using that as a place to gather. Typically, it is outside now. You have a few residents and because they live in a community environment, they can’t help but to interact with one another. They are outside a lot.
“Now, outsiders from the community are coming up there and they party as soon as it gets warm or the sun is shining. You can count on them being there. Even when we get the stay-at-home order, the first days that it was warm they were packed in that parking lot. It just blew me away. So the next morning I had to go up there at about 10 a.m. to pick up my daughter to take her to the pharmacy and it looked like someone had taken a big bag of garbage and spread it out in the parking lot and on the grass. They don’t care. It’s a problem – I don’t know how else to describe it.
“I’m concerned for the kids up there who don’t have a voice, who can’t speak up for themselves. Some of the parents are letting their kids out there playing with the other kids that live in another apartment. This is how we spread this virus, and the kids here don’t get it.”
“I’m concerned for the kids up there who don’t have a voice, who can’t speak up for themselves. Some of the parents are letting their kids out there playing with the other kids that live in another apartment. This is how we spread this virus, and the kids here don’t get it. When I was growing up, when our parents told us to stay in our yard or don’t leave off the porch, that’s what they meant. The kids, too, are interacting with one another, and all we need in Albion is a few cases and it’s going to be a big problem.
“Unfortunately, it’s a problem in the black community, it’s a problem for us. I hear the different news [outlets] saying that we know that the death rate is highest among African Americans. Now, what is happening in Albion is, we are being our own worst enemies by still gathering in groups.
“I went past Holland Park in West Ward coming home from the pharmacy with my daughter and noticed that the city has put up the caution tape around the park. And I saw what I bet was 15 people playing basketball – with the caution tape up. You know, [the police should] probably go ahead and fine them. Once you fine a couple of people the word will get around and they will stop, but that is how you have to do us. Otherwise, our community is just a petri dish waiting to spread the virus.”
“I’m telling you, the next warm day they are going to be up there at night. They park in front of people’s apartments, they turn their music up as loud as they can, and they have no regard for the people living there or the kids that live there and are trying to sleep.
“I’m telling you, the next warm day they are going to be up there at night. They park in front of people’s apartments, they turn their music up as loud as they can, and they have no regard for the people living there or the kids that live there and are trying to sleep. This has already been going on for several years, and it hasn’t stopped because of the coronavirus. I just don’t know what will stop it.”
Miller said there is a lack of local awareness because we live in a rural area, and the data about the higher death rates for blacks is coming from major cities.
“They may have that feeling that ‘we’ don’t have that problem here. They are young and they’re bored, and they don’t want to stay in. I don’t think that there has been a good enough job to make my community aware of the seriousness of it. I don’t know what the answer is, but we have to do something. I have a lot of family that works in the healthcare system, my daughter is on the front lines in the hospital, and my sister is on the front line in a hospital, I have a niece that works in ICU, so I am very familiar with the strains on our first responders and our healthcare system. But we have to tackle this before it moves here from Detroit. You get a community that has no hospital or only one hospital and it can be catastrophic. The strain that it puts on that healthcare system that is in rural areas means that we have got to do everything that we can to stop the spread.
“Health disparities have always existed for the African American community. With the [coronavirus] crisis, it’s shining a bright light on how unacceptable it is. It’s not that they’re getting infected more often, it’s that when they do get infected, their underlying medical conditions — the diabetes, the hypertension, the obesity, the asthma — those are the kind of things that wind them up in the ICU and ultimately give them a higher death rate.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci
About the racial divide in the effects of the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – and the health professional seen sharing the White House podium when delivering updates about the crisis, said “Health disparities have always existed for the African American community. With the [coronavirus] crisis, it’s shining a bright light on how unacceptable it is. It’s not that they’re getting infected more often, it’s that when they do get infected, their underlying medical conditions — the diabetes, the hypertension, the obesity, the asthma — those are the kind of things that wind them up in the ICU and ultimately give them a higher death rate.”
Right now, people should only go out for essential needs, such as groceries, medical care and prescriptions. Every shopping trip should be viewed as “an opportunity for the virus to spread,” health officials say.
Despite the lack of federal coronavirus data by race, data gathered from cities and states clearly shows that nearly one-third of those who have died from the coronavirus are black when you factor in these worst-case scenarios: African American residents in Chicago make up more than half of all COVID-19 cases and a staggering 72 percent of coronavirus-related deaths despite representing roughly a quarter of the population; in Milwaukee, African American residents make up about half of COVID-19 cases despite representing about a quarter of the population; and in Louisiana, black residents account for 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the entire state, despite being about a third of the population.
This racial divide in deaths is what led Governor Gretchen Whitmer to create the “Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities.”
This racial divide in deaths is what led Governor Gretchen Whitmer to create the “Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities.” Announced Monday, the task force, chaired by Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, will consist of leaders across state government and health care professionals from communities most impacted by the spread of coronavirus. Michigan appears to be the first state to create a task force to address such disparities during the pandemic.
“This virus is holding a mirror up to our society and reminding us of the deep inequities in this country,” said Gov. Whitmer in a release announcing the new task force. “From basic lack of access to health care, transportation, and protections in the workplace, these inequities hit people of color and vulnerable communities the hardest. This task force will help us start addressing these disparities right now as we work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan.
“It shouldn’t take a global pandemic for us to address these problems” Governor Whitmer continued. “It shouldn’t take a crisis for us to expand unemployment benefits, ensure protections for workers who are sick, or expand access to quality, affordable health care. We’re going to come out of this, but we must also learn some hard lessons about the deep problems in our economy that we need real, meaningful solutions on. As we recover from the impact of COVID-19, my administration will continue to focus on long-term solutions for every family in Michigan.”
Michelle Mueller
Michelle is the author of the book Mr. Bonner: The Story of a Mentoring Journey, which was released in 2019. She has written for The Recorder, the Albion College Io Triumphe magazine, and she is an enthusiastic scrapbooker in her spare time. See more articles by Michelle Mueller here: www.albionmich.net/writer-mueller/
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