In March, Madonna posted a video on Instagram calling the COVID-19 outbreak “the great equalizer.” She reflected on how the virus “doesn’t care about how rich you are or how famous you are” or “where you live.” She went so far to say that what is terrible about the situation is how we are all made equal, and that that is also a wonderful thing. This was all said as she reclined in a grand bathtub filled with rose petals in what surely must be some sort of secluded mansion in a safeguarded community of millionaires.
Obviously, Madonna received a lot of backlash for her naivete, and eventually she removed the video. But the essential point remains—while millions of Americans lose jobs, while minorities disproportionately die, and while many poor workers are forced to continue working in the face of a contagious virus for the good of the rest of their communities, the upper tiers of society feel wholly different effects, like not being able to get good locations for photoshoots. The socioeconomic disparities in our society—which have always existed—have come into plain magnification during these circumstances.
According to data by several large American cities and states, including New York, Chicago and Louisiana, the outbreak disproportionately infects and kills black Americans. In Louisiana, 70 percent of people who have died are black, while black people only make up one third of the general population. This is also true of other minority groups, all of whom have to suffer the brunt of the pandemic because of social and economic factors. It’s not hard to see why demographic groups who are poorer, who work more “essential” jobs in our communities, who cannot afford the luxury of staying at home when other people can, become infected at higher rates. These existing structural disparities also come into play after infection—fewer rates of medically-insured, less sufficiently-equipped hospitals, less access to testing—and result in the catastrophic effects in black and Hispanic communities across the U.S.
Nearly even more alarming are infection rates across prisons, jails and immigration detention centers. On Rikers Island, the rate of infections is seven times what it is in New York City, which already has the largest number of cases in the world. In such densely populated environments, transmission is rampant and there are not enough supplies to treat the situation. Incarcerated people are continuing to be held in not-socially-distanced manners and that factor is directly shown in the numbers. In immigration detention facilities, proper conditions in order to follow CDC distancing guidelines are equally lacking. ICE already has a poor track record when it comes to medical care and providing basic necessities, and now is not an exception.
If marginalized people dying at rapid rates is not a blatantly desperate appeal for societal reform, there won’t be much else that can prove its necessity. Now, if the government does not act promptly, its credibility in protecting the public will never recover and the condition of our society will truly be tragic. In the short term, policies must be enacted in providing medical equipment, helping people ease out of going to work everyday and simply facilitating the spread of information. Further down the line, this time in history demonstrates the need for prison reform, accessible medical insurance and more reliable supply chains.
As we face this global pandemic together, we must remember that we are united as a human race but not at all equal in the human condition.
Screenshot from David Geffen/Instagram.
