Covid-19 and the Political-Economic Contour

“For Mexico, like Brazil, the pandemic has predominantly affected populations
who are structurally vulnerable. While at a national level the case fatality rate stands at
9%, among indigenous people this figure is 15%” (BMJ Global Health, 3). This is just
one out of hundreds of startling facts about the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, facts
about how it horribly affected people of different races, ethnicities, gender, geographies,
and social classes were by Covid-19. Whether it was job availability or opportunity, job
security, pay rate, or even level of health, Covid-19 has hurt these more vulnerable
people the most. With the consequences extreme, pay gaps huge, and recovery uneven,
this is a time of crisis for the political-economic contour.

In March 2020, the world suddenly found itself spiraling out of control. The earth
seemed to have stopped. No one thought they could even take a breath. Then, after a
while, we began to feel the air in our lungs again. The world found new ways to
continue, however, some were left behind still gasping for air. In May 2020, the Pew
Research Center conducted studies and went on to list five key findings of race,
ethnicity, and the Covid-19 outbreak. One, “job and wage losses due to Covid-19 have hit
Hispanic adults the hardest” (PEW Research Center). Two, “most black and Hispanic
Americans do not have financial reserves to cover expenses in case of an emergency”
(PEW Research Center). Three, “the Covid-19 economic downturn has made it harder
for some black and Hispanic Americans to pay their monthly bills” (PEW Research
Center). Four, “there are sharp racial and ethnic differences in personal experiences
with Covid-19 and in concerns about spreading or catching the virus” (PEW Research
Center). Finally, five, “Hispanic and black Americans are more likely than white adults
to say cellphone tracking is acceptable in efforts to fight the virus” (PEW Research
Center). While all of these findings and statistics are either shocking or just plain sad, I
want to focus specifically on numbers one and three from their listing.

When speaking about job and wage losses due to Covid-19, PEW found in their
surveys that Hispanic adults were reporting that 61% of them had experienced a job or
wage loss for themselves or someone in their household, and black adults were around
44%. All the while, white American adults were reported only 29% in March and 38% in
April. It is not to say that white Americans did not face job insecurity, because they most
certainly did, however, statistically speaking, Hispanic and black adults were being hit
so much harder. White Americans have had better job security regardless of the
pandemic, yet when Covid-19 did occur, they still found themselves with that sense of
security, even if it was a little bit less. A social trend has occurred throughout history in
which people of color and different ethnic origins were competing for secure jobs with a
lot more disadvantages. Though it has been getting better, those different from the
white Americans are still struggling to make it into the job security world. Better
chances are usually offered to those who fit the systemic mold; white and American.

The most distancing piece of this puzzle is when the type of jobs is limited to
one’s race or ethnicity, the income levels will most likely be limited as well. This leads us
to the third point PEW found in their research. The economic downturn caused by
Covid-19 made it significantly harder to pay bills for some Hispanic and black
Americans. “Black (48%) and Hispanic adults (44%) were more likely than white adults
(26%) to say they ‘cannot pay bills or can only make partial payments on some of them
this month’...” (PEW Research Center). Wages were being diminished and even entirely
lost for some individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we have not only
seen this occurring during the 2020 global crisis. In Carol Stack’s book all our kin, she
speaks on a specific city in the “Flats” of Chicago and how their economic crisis is due to
their race and people in positions of power, such as the government, who are leaving
them belly up. In Chapter 3, “What goes around comes around,” Stacks explains, “As
low-skilled workers, the urban poor in The Flats cannot earn sufficient wages and
cannot produce goods. Consequently, they cannot legitimately draw desired scarce
goods into the community. Welfare benefits that barely provide the necessities of life--a
bed, rent, and food--are allocated to households of women and children and are
channeled into domestic networks of men, women, and children. All essential resources
flow from families into kin networks” (all our kin, 33). These people are already as
vulnerable going through a system of reciprocity and adding a global pandemic on top of
that only makes it that much worse. It is like only boiling brick onto another, soon the
whole thing is bound to topple over. That is where Americans such as Hispanic and
black adults found themselves: inches from destruction. Their level of income was
already lower, to begin with, causing people like those in the PEW studies and those in
The Flats of Chicago to suffer more and more from employers and business when the
Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Some, however, were not affected as much as those of different races and
ethnicities. These people, white Americans mostly, found themselves not only being able
to work remotely from home but also continuing with their same job during the
pandemic. The reason for this seems to be found in a BMJ Global Health article on
centring a critical medical anthropology of Covid-19 in global health discourse. When
speaking on why health is affected by different races, ethnicities, and social classes, they
explain that “the structural determinants of health are the causes of the causes. They are
the social, political, and economic forces that drive inequalities and are determined by
people and institutions who hold power” (BMJ Global Health). Individuals and
companies in positions of power, whether it’s wealth or class, find themselves dealing
with the constant stresses of life so much easier. So when a global pandemic took away
jobs and sources of income from those of different races and ethnicities, it seemed, at
the same time, to barely hit those who already held power. Those in this position found
themselves being able to work from home, Zooming in pajama pants, still generating
income solely because they were already in a place to do so. Americans such as Hispanic
and black adults though were vastly different. They found extreme struggles that could
have probably been easily fixed by those with the power. Once again, I am not saying
white Americans were not hit hard, because they were; however, when it came to who
truly suffered from that hit, those of different races and ethnicities felt it the most.

The pandemic has altered so much and hurt so many, however, there is a bright
side. Without the pandemic, we most likely would have gone on in the world not
noticing those who are struggling, but when everything suddenly stopped, it allowed for
a view to open up into a world different from those of white Americans. We saw
individuals, families, and even kinships suffering greatly through the Covid-19
pandemic, yet it gave those people an even bigger voice. The focus was shifted, and now
maybe, the help can be shifted too.
 Works Cited

Gamlin, Jennie. “Centring a Critical Medical Anthropology of COVID-19 in Global

Health Discourse.” BMJ Global Health, BMJ Global Health, 4 May 2021,
https://butler.instructure.com/courses/20927/files/1609329?wrap=1. Accessed
15 Nov. 2021.
Lopez, Mark Hugo, et al. “Financial and Health Impacts of Covid-19 Vary Widely by
Race and Ethnicity.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 3 Sept. 2020,
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/05/05/financial-and-health-impa
cts-of-covid-19-vary-widely-by-race-and-ethnicity/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2021.

Stack, Carol B. “What Goes Round Comes Round.” All Our Kin, Basic Books, New York,
New York, 1997, pp. 32–44.