How Safe Will Reopening America be for Black Americans?

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, New York City has become the nation’s hardest-hit area. People walk the streets of my neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant with multiple kinds of masks covering their faces. The masks that cover the faces of the most seasoned adult to the youngest person range from surgical to kente clothe styles.

It is now mandatory to wear masks when people are in public throughout New York City, but as Springtime approaches, will restrictions be eased to accommodate our need to regain some kind of normalcy?

Will less public health restrictions mean a greater likelihood that the pandemic will return in the Fall?

How will Black America, which has been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, be affected?

These are critical questions that must be addressed before we literally put our lives at risk once the American economy reopens.

Although Black Americans make up a minority population in America, we seem to be disproportionately affected by the effects of the coronavirus. I personally saw the virus’s affecting my own life when my colleagues’ family members and loved ones contracted the disease. So, I know firsthand how the coronavirus ravaged the lives of others.

In the past week, some states have eased public health restrictions, allowing some nonessential businesses to reopen.The concern that I have is that health care will continue to be racialized to the detriment of Black Americans. What may slightly affect one ethnic population may indeed drastically affect another.

For far too long, we have been encouraged to be the first to risk our lives for others without the benefits of those risks. Countless examples of racialized medicine have impacted the health care of Black Americans from experiments conducted on enslaved Black Americans to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. These instances serve as just a portion of how Black Americans risk their lives without reaping the benefits of those risks.

What happens when the risks that we take as Black people outweigh the benefits we receive as a collective?

Sometimes, the act of waiting it out is the best solution to a crisis.

What do I mean by this?

We must use rational caution and discernment when it concerns our own health care. CNN reported that in an internal Trump administration document obtained by The New York Times, coronavirus cases and deaths will rise in the next weeks, with the death toll reaching 3,000 daily victims by June 1. Knowing the deadliness of the virus, these statistics are alarming.

As Black Americans, we should learn from the past, research the data, and make wise decisions that bring forth positive results.

Our medical safety should be our top priority.

Until this virus is fully eradicated, we should continue to practice medical guidelines such as social distancing in order to protect our communities and those who surround us.

What are your thoughts?

Do you agree or disagree with my analysis?

Share your thoughts with me.