Acton Institute writer gives us the real reason why black, latinx and native people are disproportionately dying from COVID-19

On May 3rd, we posted an article about a new COVID-19 resource that tracks the confirmed cases and deaths from the virus in Kent County. We stated in that article the following:

This data on COVID-19 for Kent County, based on race is a clear indication of structural racism and White Supremacy. In addition, the zip codes that have the highest number of cases are 49503, with 294 reported cases, and 49507, with 239 cases. The 49503 zip code has the highest percentage of African Americans than any other zip code in Kent County and 49507 is one of the highest for African Americans.

On Tuesday, the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty posted an article on their website entitled, What’s behind COVID-19 racial health disparities?  Was the Acton writer going to draw the same conclusions that we had about why black, latinx and native people are disproportionately contracting COVID-19 more than white people?

The Acton writer surveys several news sources on the topic of racial health disparities and COVID-19, looking at NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the online news source Vox. The Acton write provides an excerpt from the Vox article stating:

Hundreds of years of slavery, racism, and discrimination have compounded to deliver poor health and economic outcomes for black people heart disease, diabetes, and poverty, for starters — that are only being magnified under the unforgiving lens of the coronavirus pandemic. And negligible efforts to redress black communities are being agitated like a bee’s nest prodded with a stick.

However, the Acton writer said:

“we now know that the most significant factors in the disproportionate deaths of blacks and Hispanics during the pandemic are age and certain preexisting health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and respiratory challenges like as asthma.”

The Acton writer then sets up his punchline by asking the question, “why do so many blacks and Latinos have the types of preexisting conditions that make them vulnerable to the worst effects of a coronavirus that has taken the lives of thousands of people across the United States?”

Finally, the Acton writer answers his own question as to why so many people of color have pre-existing conditions that make them more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. His answer is revealing and instructive.

“The actual data point to something other than systemic racism in the health care system or lack of access. What seems to be emerging is that those who are the most at risk of infection and death are those receiving the most government assistance for health care, income assistance, and public housing, especially for senior citizens.”

Wow…..so it seems that notion of structural racism, systemic racism or the system of White Supremacy have been getting a bad rap. The problem, according to Acton Institute writer Anthony Bradley, is that government assistance is the problem, which in turn means those who are accessing government assistance are the problem. So, with this “logic,” it seems that black, latinx and native people who are dying at a higher rate of COVID-19 than white people, the reason is that it is their fault for using government assistance.

Just when you think that the Acton Institute couldn’t sink any lower and demonstrate their loyalty to the White Supremacist, Capitalist, Patriarchy, they surprise us and demonstrate that they have really awful analysis……and frankly, they lack any genuine humanity.