Assignment 6 Blog: The Virus of Racism

During the COVID-19 pandemic it has become more of a realization how we are still

living in a world where racism is still in effect. Racism has been going on in the world for years

and many have become blind to it. It took the death of a fellow black person, George Floyd for

the rest of the world to realize Blacks are still being targeted. Blacks are still suffering in many

ways, just like what their ancestors went through over 60 years ago. To think that it was only 60

years ago that the first Black female could enter an all-white elementary school. When you

think of Racism and slaves you think it happened hundreds of years ago and you look at the

numbers and it was less than that, you can see it yesterday and you can even see it today.

Monique Reid is a fellow inspiring student from Lehman College, who has put herself on

the line everyday as an essential worker for the city of New York. Inspiration and hope is what

keeps her going everyday and even after everything that she has gone through. Being the only

person in a train going to work when she has her own family at home going through things that

require her help and her attention. Even after risking her life on a day to day basis, Monique still

is one of the strongest person’s out there. She has put her voice out there for us Blacks and

minorities, letting us know how essential we really are. That the economy would not be what it

is without us. The essential workers are Blacks and other minorities, Monique says, “ It always

the ones that you see on the train, who are coming from the poorest neighborhoods. Who are

coming from middles class income level, and I just saw people like myself?” The minorities are

the ones who need to go to work who are required to go to work because they need to feed

their families. They are putting themselves on the line and Trumps, the government and big

industries do not see this. What they see is that they need to get the economy back. It seems to
be that as soon as it was stated that most of the communities that are overwhelmingly dying

were, the old, the poor and minorities who are the most targeted by COVID-19, Trump started

his “We must open up the economy” statements.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not the only thing killing Blacks and minorities during

the 21st century, its also racism something some have thought was over. Just like Ibram X. Kendi

says that “It’s fascinating is by the second week of April when more and more Americans

realized that black people were disproportionately dying the first way to blame black people

was to say that they were not socially distancing, they were not taking the virus seriously.

Survey data a month earlier already disproven that but then it was hard to also make that case

when white Americans were overwhelmingly were protesting to reopen their states. Then they

zero in on this idea that black people have greater underlying conditions. The problem with that

argument is that studies have shown that what is more predictive of black infection and death

rates is our access to medical care. Access to high-quality health care.”