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Why talk about racism during times of #COVID19? #Racism&COVID19


By Mohan J. Dutta and Nga Hau

 Isn't it divisive to talk about racism in the midst of a pandemic?

 The question posed above is a powerful instrument of erasure. It works precisely to erase the empirically established conclusion that racism makes up the everyday realities of health and health care.

What we learn from the existing scholarship on racism is that globally, communities of colour experience racism throughout their life course and this leaves toxic and sustained effects on the health and wellbeing of individuals, households, and communities.

Whether it is the health of Māori communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, the health of indigenous communities in the U.S., or the health of African American communities in the U.S., racism is built into the social fabric. Racism prevents access to the basic infrastructures of health care, places significant barriers to the negotiation of health care, and impacts the quality of care received by communities of colour. The normative rules and roles written into hegemonic systems constitute the everyday experiences of racism by communities of colour.

 A crisis almost always exacerbates these entrenched forms of racism, magnifying the inequalities within organizations and societies. For instance, organizational decisions that don't take into account the existing inequalities in health outcomes fail to respond to the needs of those at the margins already experiencing health inequalities.

For example, the MP Marama Davidson, pointed to the New Zealand COVID19 response, and questioned the government-issued guideline defining high-risk people as those over 70, instructed to stay at home. She noted: "There has been discussion among Māori health expertise that this should be 60plus for Māori and Pacific kaumatua. Due to health inequities and systemic discrimination, the health profiles for Māori and Pacific have always been different."

 The decision-making around the criterion for what makes up high-risk determines who has access to wage and employer support.

 The acknowledgment of racism and its effects shapes the very nature of response to COVID-19, shaping further the inequalities in access to preventive resources, access to health care, and access to various forms of support.

 The discourse around COVID-19 response reflects the climate of racism in Aoteroa New Zealand.

 An article posted by Stuff "$56m to be spent on Māori coronavirus response package" engenders 1,100 comments in one hour; more comments than any other Stuff article posted today so far. A cursory scroll through the comments reveal a common Kiwi narrative that is deployed to silence the deep racism in Aotearoa – “we are all New Zealanders”. One commenter writes “it makes me said that even in these times we cant all be treated as new zealanders, still the separation. Let’s all just get through this as one people!!”

 Under this mantra, the health inequities and systemic racism shaped by colonialism are rendered invisible. “What about the rest of nz OMG this govt is a bloody joke y [why] the he’ll [hell] should the [Māori] get special treatment am sick of the hand of been given to the wrong people,” writes another commenter.

 Regardless of the minority anti-racist commentors trying to engage in dialogue on this platform to shed light on New Zealand’s perversion to racism, the racist comments freely flow. Even labelling this sharing of resources package to Māori as racist. Another commenter writes “Good to see racism is alive and well in NZ. Promoted and endorsed by our govt” Two thumbs up and liked by 208 people.

 We must absolutely center racism in our conversations on pandemic response. The effects of pandemics are raced, classed, and gendered. Working from this knowledge is critical to developing preventive and health care solutions that are anchored in equality.

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