Vox: Exclusive: Pressley, Warren, and Lee reintroduce bill to fight racism in public health
The legislation calls for an anti-racism center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The coronavirus pandemic has made the everyday realities of structural racism abundantly clear: A year into the pandemic, statistics show that Black and Latino people are three times more likely than white people to contract Covid-19 and two times more likely to succumb to the illness altogether. The impact of the virus extends to jobs, mental health, housing, and education, too — setting people of color further back.
Meanwhile, new data shows that Black and brown communities aren’t being reached by mass vaccination efforts, with white Americans having greater access to the vaccine.
To tackle these glaring disparities — and the harmful health effects of decades of systemic racism more broadly — Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Barbara Lee are reintroducing a bill in Congress on Monday. Their Anti-Racism in Public Health Act of 2021 would make sure the US government understands just how badly people of color’s health has been harmed by two ongoing crises: the coronavirus pandemic and the disproportionate rate of violence that law enforcement officials inflict on Black and brown people.
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By: Fabiola Cineas
Source: Vox
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