As COVID-19 made inroads in the United States in spring 2020, a common refrain rose above the din: “We’re all in this together.” However, the full picture was far more complicated—and far less equitable. Black and Latinx populations suffered illnesses, outbreaks, and deaths at much higher rates than the general populace. Those working in low-paid jobs and those living in confined housing or communities already disproportionately beset by health problems were particularly vulnerable. The contributors to The Pandemic Divide explain how these and other racial disparities came to the forefront in 2020. They explore COVID-19’s impact on multiple arenas of daily life—including wealth, health, housing, employment, and education—while highlighting what steps could have been taken to mitigate the full force of the pandemic. Most crucially, the contributors offer concrete public policy solutions that would allow the nation to respond effectively to future crises and improve the long-term well-being of all Americans.
Contributors. Fenaba Addo, Steve Amendum, Leslie Babinski, Sandra Barnes, Mary T. Bassett, Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Kisha Daniels, William A. Darity Jr., Melania DiPietro, Jane Dokko, Fiona Greig, Adam Hollowell, Lucas Hubbard, Damon Jones, Steve Knotek, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Henry Clay McKoy Jr., N. Joyce Payne, Erica Phillips, Eugene Richardson, Paul Robbins, Jung Sakong, Marta Sánchez, Melissa Scott, Kristen Stephens, Joe Trotter, Chris Wheat, Gwendolyn L. Wright
A Note on Terminology ix
Foreword / Mary T. Bassett xi
Introduction. Six Feet and Miles Apart: Structural Racism in the United States and Racially Disparate Outcomes during the COVID-19 Pandemic / Lucas Hubbard, Gwendolyn L. Wright, and William A. Darity Jr. 1
Section I: COVID-19 in Context
1. How Systemic Racism and Preexisting Conditions Contributed to COVID-19 Disparities for Black Americans / Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards, Melissa J. Scott, and Paul A. Robbins 29
2. Labor History and Pandemic Response: The Overlapping Experiences of Work, Housing, and Neighborhood Conditions / Joe William Trotter Jr. 46
Section II: COVID-19 and Institutions
3. “God Is in Control”: Race, Religion, Family, and Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic / Sandra L. Barnes 69
4. COVID-19, Race, and Mass Incarceration / Arvind Krishnamurthy 87
Section III: COVID-19 and Financial Disparities
5. Housing, Student Debt, and Labor Market Inequality: COVID-19, Black Families/Households, and Financial Insecurity / Fenaba R. Addo and Adam Hollowell 111
6. Race, Entrepreneurship, and COVID-19: Black Small-Business Survival in Prepandemic and Postpandemic America / Henry Clay McKoy Jr. 129
7. COVID-19 Effects on Black Business-Owner Households / Chris Wheat, Fiona Greig,and Damon Jones 186
8. Closing Racial Economic Gaps during and after COVID-19 / Jane Dokko and Jung Sakong 210
Section IV: COVID-19 and Educational Disparities
9. Latinx Immigrant Parents and Their Children in Times of COVID-19: Facing Inequities Together in the “Mexican Room” of the New Latino South / Marta Sánchez, Melania DiPietro, Leslie Babinski, Steve Amendum, and Steven Knotek 231
10. COVID-19, Higher Education, and Social Inequality / Adam Hollowell and N. Joyce Payne 256
11. The Rebirth of K-12 Public Education: Postpandemic Opportunities / Kristen R. Stephens, Kisha N. Daniels, and Erica R. Phillips 276
Postscript: COVID-19 and the Path Forward / Eugene T. Richardson 295
Contributors 301
Index 307
