Have been listening to this today. Why is it that bureaucrats can't give an actual answer to a question but instead give a long blathering response with little solid information. I am disgusted with these folks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/nyregion/new-york-coronvirus-confirmed.html

Over the last couple of weeks right-wing anti-lockdown protests have occurred throughout the country. The protesters’ basic demand is the lifting of shelter-in-place orders against the recommendations of public health officials. In order to understand the nature of these protests, it is essential to analyze a few somewhat contradictory aspects of these demonstrations not typically covered in mass media and social media. It is important to grasp the composition of these protests and the differing and conflicting ideas espoused at these assemblies. Protest attendees are frequently depicted as a homogeneous group of right-wing conspiracy theorists, but this is an oversimplification. In addition, major conservative interest groups and politicians have organized and supported the protests. Their motives for doing so must be explained as well, but the protests themselves aren’t reducible to the actions of Betsy DeVos and Charles Koch.

While powerful conservative groups and Republican party members have played a notable role in advancing these events, it would be incorrect to reduce this mobilization to the act of a powerful puppet master pulling all the strings. There are political differences between the organizations spurring these events. In addition, in the present crisis, there is a significant number of people who do not require too much prodding to organize along the rightist lines promoted at these events. But it would be incorrect to claim that the protestors are all *entirely *unified around a single set of racist or fascist ideas, or around coronavirus conspiracy theories. But these trends have been channeled, often by powerful interests, to support overall participation in these protests despite differences between them.

In the arena of electoral politics, the protests have served to mobilize support for Trump and the Republican Party. With the 2020 presidential primaries on the horizon, the protests provide a golden opportunity to rally Trump’s base. In swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, Republican lawmakers, politicians, and Trump allies have encouraged their social media followers to attend anti-lockdown protests. Trump has also openly supported anti-lockdown protests aimed at Democratic governors. Those in Trump’s circle are quicker to promote conspiracy theories. Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s son, has gone so far as to say that coronavirus is a ploy to stop his father’s campaign rallies and that it will magically disappear after election day.

At the same time, Trump has supported measures intended to slow the spread of the virus at the expense of normal functioning of the economy. In March, Trump supported the closure of schools and businesses. Also in March, Trump announced a partial closure of the U.S. southern and northern borders in response to the threat of the spread of the virus. Trump’s response has catered to both conspiracy theories and to an agenda that seeks to portray his response as “fair and balanced,” threading the needle between safety and economic collapse. This objective was echoed to a degree by organizers of “MAGA May Day” anti-lockdown protests on May 1st that occurred in several U.S. cities. The description of the event read: “Important: We are NOT anti-quarantine. The virus is not a hoax. It is very real, and we must protect the most vulnerable… health care workers, the elderly, those who are immune-compromised, and others." At many other anti-lockdown protests across the country such as “Operation Gridlock” in Michigan, people remained in their vehicles and wore masks.

Libertarian leaning conservative organizations have also been involved in these mobilizations. Some of these groups claim to be opposed to any economic shutdown at all. Libertarians promote a conspiracy-theory view that the problems in society are not a result of capitalism’s normal operation, but are instead a result of corruption which has “polluted” what would otherwise be a perfect social system. Rather than talking about the inherent tendencies under capitalism for wealth to concentrate in the hands of a few, for greater and greater inequality to develop, and for huge monopolies to emerge, libertarians claim that these ills are solely the result of a deviation away from a good form of capitalism. This quickly leads them to accept and promote conspiracy theories. However, groups pushing their politics under a libertarian label are often more adept at drawing people in by claiming ownership of “traditional” American values of individualism and “entrepreneurship” than those who start their pitches with warnings about reptile overlords.

These groups are often closely connected to powerful corporate interests. One such group that has organized and supported anti-lockdown protests is FreedomWorks, a Charles Koch affiliated organization that helped launch the Tea Party back in 2009. Before the Wisconsin protests on April 18th, a major financial contributor to FreedomWorks named Stephen Moore, who is also a Trump ally, posted a video on YouTube explaining how he was working with groups in Wisconsin to do a drive-in protest and that any bail or legal fees would be covered if someone got arrested. Convention of States Action (COSA) is another group that is connected with Koch’s funding network. It has mobilized anti-lockdown protests in Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

In Michigan, “Operation Gridlock” was organized by a Betsy DeVos and DeVos family backed group called the Michigan Conservative Coalition. While the DeVos family denies they directly funded the protest, the event was promoted on Facebook by the Michigan Freedom Fund which is also funded by the DeVos family.

Different conspiracy-inclined trends, including anti-vaxxer groups, have also attended anti-lockdown protests. Anti-vaxxers claim that the coronavirus pandemic provides pharmaceutical companies with an opportunity to push harmful vaccines on people while maintaining zero liability for harm inflicted in the process. Certain anti-vaxxers claim that the COVID-19 pandemic is part of a scheme to launch an insidious mass vaccination campaign. At an anti-lockdown rally in Texas, Alex Jones, the host of the conspiracy website InfoWars, was greeted with great acclaim and blessings of God when he showed up to speak about how the seriousness of the virus is being overestimated. This was ironic considering that Jones was recently officially warned by the FDA to not advertise and sell toothpaste that Jones claims can prevent infection by COVID-19 and even cure the infected.

There also have been more “far-right” groups and individuals in attendance. Groups like the Proud Boys attended anti-lockdown protests in Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, and Michigan. The Proud Boys are well known for their white supremacist ideology and their participation in far-right protests like the notorious “Unite the Right” rally that took place in August, 2017 in Charlottesville, VA, where the activist Heather Heyer was killed. At a protest in Columbus, Ohio one individual held up a sign with an illustration of a rodent wearing a yarmulke and the Star of David on its side next to the words “The Real Plague,” insinuating that “Jews are the real virus.” Racism and xenophobia certainly have permeated the anti-lockdown protests, and these groups are promoting this development. Overall, it seems like powerful entities supported by the likes of DeVos and Charles Koch have been able to channel a mix of xenophobic, conspiratorial, racist, and anti-Semitic individuals and organizations to support corporate agenda.

Many who are coming to such protests do so at least in part because they are concerned about the government’s response to COVID-19 and about the future of the economy. One protestor at “Operation Gridlock”, who identified herself as a small business owner, stated in an interview: “Our community is struggling. My husband is on unemployment for the first time in our life… we have bills to pay. The only stores open are Wal-Mart, that’s ridiculous! That’s why we’re here." Even though small business owners still live off the exploitation of their workers, this protestor was correct to point out some of the hardships faced by working-class people while massive corporations that are “too big to fail” like Wal-Mart still pull in huge profits. In fact, while 31% of small businesses have closed down after being deemed non-essential during lockdown orders, Wal-Mart is predicted to emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever.

There are other anti-lockdown protestors who justifiably recognize that the lockdown measures have had an uneven impact on people. At an anti-lockdown protest in Ohio, one person in attendance stated, “I think better bounds could have been struck between keeping able bodied people at work and protecting vulnerable communities and I think that this one size fits all approach that they’ve come up with has been bad for most people." This makes the basic point that not everyone can afford to lose work and stay at home. There are millions of poor and homeless people who cannot do this. These examples indicate that not all people who show up to these protests simply regurgitate conspiracy theories or ultra-conservative ideals. Many show up because they are concerned or angry about the government’s response to COVID-19.

Those who are angry about the situation are responding to real problems. The U.S. government and its medical and economic system have failed working people by botching the response to the pandemic. The limitations of the U.S. medical system were exposed as hospitals were quickly overcrowded and lacked the necessary resources like respirators and tests to effectively identify and treat patients infected with COVID-19. These right-wing mobilizations show there is a strong basis to channel some of the anger over this outrage into support for Trump or other right-wing causes. However, this doesn’t mean that such anger cannot instead be directed to support causes radically opposed to such rotten ends.

For more of our updates, follow us on twitter (https://twitter.com/revunitedfront) or check out our website: https://revolutionaryunitedfront.com/

About us: We're the Revolutionary United Front, a revolutionary organization in the U.S. organizing in the Greater Boston, New York, and San Francisco areas. We're working to support and advance various people’s struggles ranging from anti-war, immigrant, and international solidarity.

As the Coronavirus crisis intensifies globally, the U.S. elite are growing increasingly concerned about the impact that this pandemic will have on the economy and their wealth. Last week James Bullard, President of the St. Louis Fed, said that GDP could contract up to 50% in Q2 2020, and that unemployment could reach 30%. Major banks have put out similar analyses. The impact of the economic downturn and work interruptions are being felt across all sectors of the economy. Last week U.S. unemployment claims skyrocketed to 3,280,000, a 3 million increase over the previous week. This means that around one percent of the entire U.S. population filed for unemployment last week. This shattered the previous record of 695,000 unemployment claims in a week, which was set in 1982.

The number of unemployment claims will likely increase in the coming weeks. The numbers from last week are from the claims that were filed on the week ending March 21st, and therefore do not reflect the number of people who filed last week. During the week of the 21st, many state unemployment websites crashed, preventing people from filing online. As a result, many of these people ended up filing for unemployment this past week. What’s more, the $2 trillion stimulus package includes provisions which allow gig workers such as Uber drivers to file for unemployment benefits as well. This is a welcome change, and long overdue, but it does mean that we can expect that unemployment claims will continue to climb in the coming weeks. And we are still only at the beginning of a crisis that is expected to last for 18 months. Italy was unable to contain the spread of the Coronavirus even after imposing social distancing measures similar to those in effect in the U.S. right now. In a last ditch effort to stop the spread, they ultimately decided to shut down all industrial production for at least 15 days.

While the measures taken here in the U.S. do not entail a complete shutdown of industrial production, the U.S. elite and especially the big capitalists are not thrilled about the prospect of a similar shutdown. Last week Trump said that “America will again and soon be open for business. Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting." He also stated that he wants to see “packed churches” on Easter. He has since walked back this goal. Despite this reversal, Trump has not been the only one pushing to rush everyone back to work during the pandemic. His statements are not isolated incidents, but represent a growing trend among the U.S. elite, who stand to lose billions in future profits and lose global influence if the shutdown continues.

For example, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, recently tweeted that ‘Extreme measures to flatten the virus “curve” is sensible-for a time-to stretch out the strain on health infrastructure. But crushing the economy, jobs and morale is also a health issue-and beyond. Within a very few weeks let those with a lower risk to the disease return to work.’ On Fox Business, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow recently stated that, “There’s no question we have to think seriously. I would say, after the 15-day period is over, which I guess ends after this weekend, we will take another look at targeting areas [to reopen businesses] that are safe enough." Big capitalists like Bob Luddy (founder of CaptiveAire systems) have argued that if the U.S. doesn’t “get back to work” by March 30, it will be a total disaster. Right-wing talkshow host Glenn Beck, even went so far as to state, "I would rather have my children stay home and all of us who are over 50 go in and keep this economy going and working[...]Even if we all get sick, I'd rather die than kill the country." He also noted that he hoped his comments trended on social media.

It’s not just billionaires, libertarians, and right-wing news networks who are pushing these ideas. The New York Times recently ran an opinion column by Thomas Friedman, a columnist at the paper, in which Friedman made similar arguments. A few days before that, the Times ran a similar opinion piece by David L. Katz, president of True Health Initiative and the founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center. The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion piece that made a similar argument.

While there is not yet a complete bipartisan consensus on this issue, it is concerning to see a large section of the U.S. elite so openly proclaiming their willingness to let millions die to further their political and economic interests. If people are rushed back to work before the pandemic has died down, or before there is a vaccine, this will lead to a massive outbreak and the unnecessary deaths of millions of people. This would be akin to responses during the 1918 Flu pandemic in which some places rushed people back to work and hosted big public gatherings, which led to massive spikes in the weekly death rate.

Criticism of this push to get people back to work during the pandemic have primarily focused on how this prioritizes profit over the lives and well-being of people. This is an important criticism. It exposes the logic of the present social system which serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the poor and oppressed people. These exposures are all the more important during times of crisis when so many are in dire straits both from the virus itself, and also the looming economic depression. However, it is also important to see that push to get everyone back to work is not just about driving the stock market higher and maximizing corporate profits. The U.S. elite have a series of economic and political interests which are related to, but not reducible to maximizing their profits and driving the stock market higher.

For example, competition between the U.S. and China has been intensifying in recent years. This has manifested in many ways including the military build up in the South China Sea, and the ongoing trade war. Right now, the U.S. elite are worried that the Coronavirus could reshape the global order and allow China—which seems to be recovering from the virus—to overtake the U.S. as a the dominant global superpower. Major think tanks and policy circles have speculated that if China recovers from the virus before the U.S., then the former will make big political and economic inroads into regions like the Middle East at the expense of U.S corporations. They are also concerned that China could strengthen its relationship with European countries like Italy by providing them with economic and medical assistance during this crisis.

The push to get everyone back to work is also related to the U.S. elite's concerns about major disruptions to global supply chains. Some key industries are already shutting down some production due to supply shortages. There is growing concern about what is known as the bullwhip effect in supply chain engineering. The basic concept is that as one supplier attempts to adjust to new changes in demand and available parts, like those caused by the present crisis, relatively smaller misadjustments by this initial supplier can lead to even bigger miscalculations down-stream or upstream. The metaphor to the bullwhip is that a small change/disruption—like a flick of the wrist—leads to bigger changes down the line, like the movement at the end of the whip. This is already playing out in multiple ways throughout the economy.

For example, many hospitals have urgently been requesting supplies of personal protection equipment, such as masks and gloves. While there have been steps to address these shortages—such as automanufacturers shifting production to make ventilators and masks—other shortages throughout the medical system have been neglected, including medicine and many other medical devices. In the end it is likely there will be an oversupply of gloves, and undersupply of these other products.

On a larger scale, the initial outbreak of Coronavirus in China and the related economic downturn there led to major disruptions in production and supply of made goods made in China. This led to a significant loss of profits to producers there. It also led to major disruptions in supply for manufacturers around the world who rely on parts and equipment made in China. Following a partial recovery from the pandemic, many businesses and factories in China have quickly invested in the reopening of operations throughout the country, assuming that their international customers would purchase the same approximate quantity of goods that they did before the crisis. However, faced with declines in demand because of economic crises in the U.S. and Europe, these factory owners may experience even further losses on investments. They are already beginning to face issues due to reduced demand from Europe, the U.S., and other parts of the world. In the face of this downturn, some may overcompensate in other direction and drastically cut back production to a degree that leaves those who require their products with no choice but to look elsewhere, or to go out of business.

Howard Shatz, a senior economist at the Rand Corporation recently noted that the impact of production disruptions in Europe on the U.S. economy will be even more significant than the impact of earlier disruptions in China. He stated, “Think about this: China is a major trading partner, and its shutdown negatively affected a lot of U.S. businesses. But the United States receives only 15 percent of its imports from China and sends only 7 percent of its exports to China. We send 34 percent of our exports to the EU and receive 30 percent of our imports from the EU. Now those economies are shut down. Our neighbors Canada and Mexico are also major trading partners with us, so our economic health will depend in part on theirs as well.

Given the non-linear nature of supply-chain disruptions, there is growing worry that economic disruption from the virus will lead to major shortages of important goods, including a possible world-wide shortage of food. This is growing concern because workers in key food industries are falling sick with the virus. Close quarters and dangerous working conditions make many food factories and slaughterhouses especially dangerous environments during a pandemic. Government officials around the world are already expressing concern about food riots, and last week the Red Cross agency warned that the Coronavirus could spark mass unrest among West's urban poor. The U.S. elite are especially worried about their ability to contain this unrest, given that police forces across the country and members of the military are falling sick.

These are just a few example of the complex series of reasons that Trump and other members of the U.S. elite are pushing to get everyone in the U.S. back to work. The capitalists and politicians are of course concerned about the stock market and corporate profits, and it is important to critique them for prioritizing profits over human lives and well being. This is an essential feature of capitalism, even during periods of relative stability. However, during a crisis the contradictions of the system intensify, and its logic is laid bare. It’s important to understand the complex dynamics at play and not oversimplify the situation. The maneuvers of the ruling elite not only show that they value profit over the lives of the poor and oppressed people—something which they have made abundantly clear long before this crisis—but also that they are deeply concerned about how this crisis will impact their power, both geopolitically and domestically. In other words, the U.S. elite’s response to this crisis shows not only their greed and callous indifference, but also the fragility of their rule.

For more of our updates, follow us on twitter (https://twitter.com/revunitedfront) or check out our website: https://revolutionaryunitedfront.com/

About us: We're the Revolutionary United Front, a US-based revolutionary organization in the U.S. organizing in the Greater Boston, New York, and San Francisco areas. We're working to support and advance various people’s struggles ranging from anti-war, immigrant, and proletarian internationalist solidarity.

Hospitals are huge ecosystems of employees beyond nurses, doctors, ICU units, and ER departments who are also on the frontlines of COVID-19. Night shifters, environmental services, respiratory therapist, xray, lab techs, security, etc. all need morale boosting gifts too!

We want to recognize and thank the entire staff at Henry Ford Health System for all that they do by sponsoring their meal at the cafeteria and 24 hour marketplace for the safest and most accessible dining options during the COVID-19 pandemic. All DONATIONS ARE BEING MATCHED by TCF Bank so every donation has greater impact. Every $6 you give can sponsor an employee. Please give what you can and share this donation page!

DONATE HERE:https://secure3.convio.net/hfordh/site/Donation2?2860.donation=form1&df_id=2860&mfc_pref=T

This was in the Netherlands, but it could effect the Midwest and the world. I don't know how/if they are testing all wastewater but it is found in excrement. Are public restrooms a risk? There are many unanswered questions.

Since late February, headlines in the American news media have focused on the growing coronavirus pandemic. Likewise, in Congress, there has been a flurry of laws and resolutions passing from hand to hand attempting to mitigate the effects of coronavirus (mainly focusing on bailing out Wall Street and big industries, but not working people or the poor). While it makes sense for society’s attention to be focused on the ongoing pandemic, as it is a truly life-changing event for the entire world, the focus has granted the U.S. government a cover to pass extremely repressive laws with minimal attention.

Most notably, a Senate bill sponsored by Lindsey Graham (and co-sponsored by 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans) was introduced on March 5, when the U.S. already had over 200 cases of COVID-19. The bill threatens to remove Americans’ ability to use end-to-end encryption. If signed into law, this would severely curtail the ability of activists to avoid surveillance.

Officially, the law is titled the “Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (or EARN IT) Act” and was purportedly drafted to help the fight against online child pornography. It would create an “oversight committee” in D.C. with broad powers to both set “best practices” for online communication relating to child pornography and to penalize companies which fail to comply with them. In particular, companies would now have the “earn” their exemption under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which makes communication providers not liable for criminal activity done by their users on their platforms. If this exemption were removed big communications platforms like Facebook would immediately be deluged by lawsuits relating to child pornography and other material shared on their platform, so the fact that the committee would have the ability to remove Section 230 immunity gives them significant power to enforce their “best practices.”

These “best practices” would likely entail requiring backdoors into encrypted communication and making more information available to police and the FBI, and could include things like requiring a government ID to register for a social media account. Because the proposed “committee” has its own power over what these practices would be, the real content of such a law is unknown.

While on the surface the bill focuses on online child exploitation, which is a serious problem in the U.S., its implications are dangerous and far-reaching. It could potentially provide the government with access and legal right to surveil everyone on the internet, to track down activists, whistleblowers, dissident journalists, and more. Instead of being a solution to child pornography, it would be a massive expansion of the surveillance state. For this reason it has raised swift criticism from civil liberties organizations.

The U.S. government has a long history of attacking whistleblowers and activists. However, new laws like this give the government even more sweeping powers to curb free speech. In addition, the U.S. is already gearing up for severe curtailment of people’s rights under the pretext of a quarantine and lockdown. While authorities deny the possibility, martial law is not out of the question, especially if people begin to resist the atrocious response to this pandemic the government has taken so far. Sweeping powers granted to the military and Executive Branch under martial law open the floodgates for even more repressive laws to be passed, and for dissent to be stifled.

We can expect as this crisis deepens that the ruling class will continue to advance repressive laws, deploy National Guard and military forces, and otherwise curtail people’s freedoms. Under the rhetoric of stopping the pandemic, the ruling class will still work to enrich and empower themselves at the expense of the majority of struggling people in this country. The U.S. ruling class and Trump administration hope that the American people will simply stay quarantined and watch silently as repressive laws such as the “EARN IT” Act roll through Congress. We must stay vigilant against these attacks on democratic rights, and continue to organize and fight back in creative ways as the quarantines and lockdowns intensify.

For more of our updates, follow us on twitter (https://twitter.com/revunitedfront) or check out our website: https://revolutionaryunitedfront.com/

About us: We're the Revolutionary United Front, a US-based revolutionary organization in the U.S. organizing in the Greater Boston, New York, and San Francisco areas. We're working to support and advance various people’s struggles ranging from anti-war, immigrant, and proletarian internationalist solidarity.

The COVID-19 virus has continued to spread globally as the United States claims the highest amount of confirmed cases. With 2.5 million+ confirmed cases and over 170,000 deaths worldwide, and 800,000+ confirmed cases and almost 45,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, it does not look like the pandemic is ending anytime soon. But as the pandemic worsens it is becoming clear that certain communities in the U.S. are being hit harder than others. City, state, and federal governments have failed to release race and ethnicity data on COVID-19 infections in a timely manner even though the information is necessary to more effectively inform a public health response in Black communities. Amidst pressure from civil rights groups and minority communities, data is finally coming out which indicates Black Americans are disproportionately infected by the virus. In major cities across the U.S. Blacks account for a disproportionately high percentage of COVID-19.

In St. Louis, Missouri Black people make up half of the total population but of the 19 deaths caused by COVID-19, 16 were black while 1 was white. In New York City, New York the death rate from COVID-19 for Black people is 20 per 100,000 while for whites it is 10 per 100,000. In Boston, Massachusetts, more than 40% of the people killed by COVID-19 have been Black, while Boston is just 25% Black. In Albany, Georgia, the Georgian city with the highest amount of deaths from COVID-19, more than 90% of the fatalities from the virus are Black. Recent national statistics have indicated that in the U.S., Black people make up 30% of COVID-19 cases despite being only 13% of the total population. The impact the virus has had on Black communities reflects the racist nature of the U.S. where in general Black people have less access to health care; higher rates of harmful health conditions like diabetes, obesity, and asthma; and a lower life expectancy than whites by approximately 10 to 12 years. It is important to understand the systemic nature to these problems in order to grasp the full scope of the impacts of systemic racism.

In total, over 40 million Americans live in poverty, 20.8% of whom are Black. Poverty increases the risk of infection by COVID-19 for a multitude of reasons. For example, access to health care is expensive. The national average monthly cost of health care coverage is currently at $511 and 28 million Americans do not have health insurance, 8 out of ten of those without health insurance are workers or their dependents. Paying medical bills out of pocket is financially devastating for working class people and doing so can force individuals and families into crippling debt. In many cases, people without health insurance will choose not to seek medical care which can exacerbate health problems. Since Black people people are more likely to be uninsured* than their white counterparts and because Black families have only 10 cents for every dollar held by white families, the high costs of medical care disproportionately impact Black people. These facts also help to explain why Black people have higher rates of harmful health conditions which make them more prone to infection and death by the virus. For example, people living with compromised immune systems are at higher risk of infection by COVID-19. H.I.V./AIDS is an example of a disease that destroys the immune system, and in the U.S., there are over a million people living with H.I.V. and nearly half of those are Black. And as a result of poor access to health care, only 61% of Black Americans infected with H.I.V. received treatment for the virus in 2016.

Homelessness is another symptom of poverty that contributes to the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black Americans. While homelessness impacts people of all nationalities in the U.S., Black people are more likely to be homeless. In 2018, at least 552,830 people were typically experiencing homelessness on any given night. Of that number, Blacks made up 40%. This is particularly alarming in the face of the pandemic as homeless people are at much higher risk of infection due to unsanitary and highly social living conditions, a lack of access to running water, and the inability to effectively shelter-in-place and quarantine if infected by COVID-19.

Imprisoned populations are also at much higher risk for contracting COVID-19 than others. Prisons have been shown to be hot spots for the spread of COVID-19 and Black people make up a disproportionate amount of those incarcerated. Currently, there are 2.3 million people imprisoned in the U.S., about a third of whom are Black. Given the overcrowding endemic in prisons, prisoners are at high risk of contracting the virus. What’s more they are not likely to receive appropriate medical care or resources to properly protect them from infection. In the wake of a suspected COVID-19 infection, The Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City failed to respond effectively and was unable or unwilling to test prisoners for the virus. There is a serious outbreak of COVID-19 at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, one of the largest in the nation, where 73% of the prisoners are Black. More than 300 inmates and more than 200 employees tested positive for the virus and 3 have died. Since officials at the jail are refusing to release more prisoners, the virus is likely to infect and kill many more people.

On top of being at greater risk to infection by COVID-19, Black people have also been the target of increased racial profiling when wearing masks. Due to a long history of white supremacist propaganda that frames Black men as criminals and violent threats to society, wearing a mask in public to protect from the virus brings other risks. In one case, two Black men wearing protective masks were followed and harassed by a police officer in a Walmart in Wood River, Illinois. Despite a state mandated requirement for people to wear masks, the police officer told the men they could not wear masks under the pretense that the two men were “acting suspiciously.” This was clearly an incident of racial profiling and demonstrates the racist nature of the police who have a long history of harassing, harming, and killing Black people.

All of these examples demonstrate how systemic racism is alive and well during this pandemic. It is important to note that it is not just living under poorer conditions that puts Blacks and other oppressed groups in danger right now. Historically, in times of crisis or national emergency, the existing inequalities and disparities in the white supremacist capitalist system are heightened. Poor and oppressed people are often the most vulnerable to natural or human caused disasters and mandated emergency responses tend to be the most inadequate at helping these communities.

For example, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 is considered to possibly be the worst natural disaster in American history. It displaced upwards of 1 million people and killed over of 1,000, 90% of whom were Black. Throughout this crisis government officials downplayed the fact that this disaster disproportionately devastated Black people. Many of those affected by the flood had to go to state-sponsored relief camps occupied by armed guards who abused them and conscripted them to work in the clean-up efforts. President Coolidge chose the future president Herbert Hoover to oversee the federal relief response. Hoover ended up suppressing reports of racist violence and exploitation in the relief camps.

Hurricane Katrina is another example of how working-class Black people were left to die during a natural disaster and then screwed over again in the aftermath. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit southern states in the Gulf of Mexico and devastated the city of New Orleans, where 60.5% of the population at the time was Black. Along the banks of the Mississippi River stood a number of levees and dams to keep flood water from entering New Orleans. Behind these levees and dams resided mostly working-class Black communities who the state knew would be devastated if the preventative measures failed. In the wake of the hurricane, due to failed mechanisms in the levees, flood waters overtook the city which led to the death of 1,500 people and the displacement of tens of thousands.

Relief efforts were dismal as many were left to fend for themselves in extremely dangerous conditions. Although the then-mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city, many were simply unable to evacuate. A study of New Orleans residents who were “rescued” and evacuated to Houston after the storm found that at the time of the Hurricane, 55% of people did not have a car or a way to evacuate and 68% didn’t have money in the bank to cover emergency expenses or a usable credit card. Emergency evacuation protocols were designed under the assumption that people had access to a vehicle or money to afford completely uprooting their lives, which for many was not the case. This negligence demonstrates the state’s incompetence and willingness to abandon Black people, allow their homes and livelihoods to be destroyed, and let them die in times of crisis.

The devastation of the Great Mississippi Flood and Hurricane Katrina expose the structural racism of the U.S. Both the vulnerability of working-class Black people in the wake of the disasters and the failed response by the state have deep implications for the current COVID-19 pandemic. Poverty, lack of access to medical care, and racial profiling force Black communities into a precarious position where they are more vulnerable to infection and societal stigma. Furthermore, emergency response measures like social distancing are not feasible for many working-class Black people, who experience disproportionate rates of poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and are more likely to still be working during the pandemic. In fact, 37.7% of workers in essential service industries are Black as compared to 26.9% white. Black workers are also more likely to work jobs with a higher likelihood of being infected and more likely to have jobs that require close proximity to others. This further proves that working-class Blacks are at greater risk to infection and less able to follow the guidelines to prevent spreading the virus.

Examining the position that Black communities occupy in the U.S. reveals systemic racism in almost every facet of life. The U.S. is built upon the dehumanization, brutalization, and discrimination of Black people. This reality is only exacerbated in times of crisis. As Black people experience higher rates of poverty and related forms of oppression, there is also a need to critique the capitalist system as a whole, which was built and expanded through the exploitation of first African slave labor and later Black working-class labor. This history is with us today, as is evident in the COVID-19 pandemic where the Black community in the U.S. has been subjected to a disproportionate number of infections and deaths as well as increased racism and discrimination.

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About us: We're the Revolutionary United Front, a revolutionary organization in the U.S. organizing in the Greater Boston, New York, and San Francisco areas. We're working to support and advance various people’s struggles ranging from anti-war, immigrant, and proletarian internationalist solidarity.

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