Acknowledging Systemic Discrimination in the Context of a Pandemic: Advancing an Anti-Racist and Anti-Ageist Movement

Abstract

This commentary draws together the confluence of current events–COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice. Vulnerability to COVID-19 cannot be understood by age alone but within the context of inequity. We first review how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black and Latinx populations across the life span with the latest data from New York City Department of Health. We then discuss critical race theory and analyze longstanding inequities in health, economic, and social conditions that heighten the risk for vulnerability. We conclude with a discussion for the social work profession on the issues of defunding the police to undoing stereotypes.