African Americans Are More Likely To Be Infected With Covid-19?
For African Americans, the coronavirus has been a deadly enemy. But it may depend on who you are talking to and where. If you are living in Georgia it has clearly marched through rural parts of the state with a vengeance. In Oklahoma, if you believe the statistics, African Americans are one of the least likely racial groups to become infected. Perhaps the case could be made that race is not singularly important.
Are the dense populations of great metropolises like New York City and where healthcare is hard to come by stronger contributing factors than in Oklahoma’s cities? Perhaps there are states that are not accurately reporting race in state databases. Oklahoma and national statistics have been slow to report numbers on race. It is important to report race to determine if resources and energy should be redirected to clusters of high incidences of cases. Inaccurate reports mean. This means those suffering must wait and most cannot afford another minute.
In Oklahoma as the state moves to open for business with some restrictions, this initial phase has been disappointing.The will to push for enforcement of recommendations is not found. President Donald Trump has been pushing to open the government and country back up and has been critical of those states reluctant to open over fears of more infections. His support for armed rallies to open government in some states is disturbing and irresponsible.
Oklahoma now has 4,127 cases and 247 people have died. Of the those infected, 2,830 have thankfully recovered. The jury is still out on whether those in recovery can still be infected again. Nation-wide African Americans represent 13.4% of the total American population. However, blacks account for more than half of all Covid-19 cases and 60 percent of deaths. That is not the case in Oklahoma according to state statistics. African Americans have 212 cases of Covid-19 or 7.1% of all cases. Of the total fatalities in Oklahoma, black deaths from Covid-19 is 20, or 9.4 percent of the total dead. African Americans die in larger numbers regarding their total numbers nationally. The state death rate is not anywhere close to national averages. White Oklahomans have 2438 (70.2 percent) cases and 162 deaths (75.7 percent). Hispanics have 332 of the cases at 9.6 of the total population but have been spared high death numbers at 4 or 1.9 percent of deaths.
There are no obvious reasons why state and national figures are drastically different. Hopefully, it stays low for reasons unknown, African Americans in Oklahoma for now are not heavily infected.
Black Male Killed While Jogging As Shooters Walk Free
Ahmaud Arbery was 25 years old and was going for a jog in his neighborhood two months ago. Unknown to him he was being hunted near his Georgia home. Lurking behind him was Gregory and Travis McMichael a father and son who decided Arbery looked like someone who was breaking into homes in the area. They confronted Arbery and in the end shot him to death. Incredibly, the killers have not been charged or spent one night in jail over the incident. There is now a move to ask for justice.
Arbery’s family are challenging the district attorney’s assertion that it was a case of a citizen arrest. Granted these men had no evidence other than one saying he saw a man matching the description looking into a window of a home recently. In trying to arrest Arbery, the district attorney said he was resisting arrest and they shot him in self-defense. Arbery was unarmed. Wanda Cooper, Arbery’s mother has hired an attorney and he says the citizen arrest law was violated because no breaking of the law was observed and looking into a house under construction is not a felony. The home that he was allegedly looking into was a vacant property under construction.
This has not gone unnoticed by the national media and the previously unknown incident that was also captured on video is now a point of interest on the presidential campaign trail. The shooting happened in February. But since video has come out, the pressure to not see this swept under the rug is having some effect. Former Vice-President Joe Biden and former Georgia democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams have called for an investigation. Now a Georgia prosecutor has called for a grand jury to look at the case and to decide if there is enough evidence to file charges against the father and son.
Now the Georgia Attorney General and Georgia Bureau of Investigation are involved and there should be some action in the coming days. This incident appears clear that the two men took the law into their own hands and appeared to give a young man the death penalty.
(At press time Georgia authorities arrested a white father and son Thursday and charged them with murder in the February shooting death of a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood). CNN
Has The Shutter-in Debate Become Deadly?
One of the results of the pandemic the planet is struggling with centers around everyone shuttering in, closing down, and taking an array of other moves to mitigate the spread of the virus. It is clear closing down, losing income, and staying in has frayed the nerves of millions of Americans. Most have taken the stance of doing what one must do with a firm upper lip in keeping the Covid-19 virus from spreading. However, there are others who for reasons of their own are acting in violent and threatening ways.
Last week, armed men took to the streets armed with assault weapons calling for the governor of that state to remove state actions to shutter in and closing certain businesses. Michigan chose to not confront the thuggish behavior and it’s feared the inaction has only emboldened the anti-government sentiment espoused by the group. They were also cheered on by President Donald J. Trump because he wants states to quickly relax precautions and stimulate the economy. Some suggest Trump is willing to risk further infections in order to rev up the economy he feels is his greatest campaign strength. He also misses campaign rallies with thousands of zealous supporters in what most prudent experts would say is a recipe for disaster.
In Oklahoma City two employees at a McDonald’s near southwest 89th and Pennsylvania Ave were shot after two customers saw the lobby was closed because of virus concerns. In Stillwater, violent threats from some Stillwater residents frightened city government from enforcing a mandate to wear masks. This is a complete affront to a well-structured society.
A lot of racist criticism is being lobbed at China over the virus that no one can say with any certainty was either born or created there. To say otherwise is ignorant and irresponsible. Of course, Trump is leading this effort in order to avoid blame for the poor American response. New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam have all stopped the virus in its tracks. Vietnam had their first case the same day the United States did and have not suffered one death. They fought the virus with national resolve free of spoiled and entitled behavior to not be inconvenienced here in the states. Problems do not define us, but our behavior sure does.
