Working Against the Uneven Impact of COVID-19
In the midst of this, knowing that we are all #alonetogether, how do we hold on to #TogetherAgainstBias? What can we actually do in order to combat these injustices, even as we’re sheltering in place?
Published on: May 11, 2020
Alexis L. Krohn
Last week, we at the Unconscious Bias Project posted an essay entitled “Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19.” We detailed a (certainly not exhaustive) list of the unjust realities facing the exacerbation of inequities for a number of already-marginalized groups, including but not limited to: Black people, LGBTQ+ folk, Puerto Ricans, Asian Americans, older adults, people with disabilities, American Indians, incarcerated populations… the list goes on. Commenters noted that women are also being systematically harmed in worse ways than men; that the pandemic is devastating homeless groups; that, tied up in economic and medical divides, there are inequities in transportation access, housing, law enforcement; that people in unsafe living situations have increased risk, and more. Further, increased stress and fear are fueling an increase in anti-semitic and white nationalist hate crimes; Black people are getting arrested for wearing masks and for not wearing masks. Running through all of these stories are also folk who are at the intersection of multiple identities experiencing factors affecting their various identities and the unique challenges presented by the confluence of impacts.
In the midst of this, knowing that we are all #alonetogether, how do we hold on to #TogetherAgainstBias? What can we actually do in order to combat these injustices, even as we’re sheltering in place?
Luckily, people are already offering ways to do this. With this non-exhaustive list, we hope some of these opportunities can work for you, too. We’ll divide helping into three broad categories - Actions, Awareness Amplification & Intervention, and Donations.
Actions
Hilary Beard is ringing alarm bells for racial inequalities which continue to worsen due to this pandemic. She recommends action which is suggested over and over again by activists - call your local and federal representatives. Tell them that you’re concerned for the welfare of marginalized groups, like Black people, who are being disproportionately hurt by the pandemic and its accompanying recession. Ask them to pass bills which expand healthcare in general and also specifically for COVID-19-related expenses - a safety net for all which will help most the marginalized populations (like People of Color) who have been systematically disenfranchised and dispossessed by our nation’s history and institutions.
True Colors United has put together an action list for helping LGBTQ+ folks. They also recommend calling your representatives to make sure that they’re advocating for the rights of queer folk regarding the pandemic. Also, keep tabs on lawmakers taking advantage of chaos to strip LGBTQ+ people (especially transgender people) of their medical care and other rights.
The Innocence Project also recommends writing to and calling your representatives to ask for prison reform measures that are urgently needed, including more humane treatment and greater allocation of hygienic resources. You can contact local sheriffs, prosecutors, and other executives to ask that medically vulnerable people and nonviolent offenders be released, or those with less than a year left in their sentences. They also recommend asking for free phone calls. The Justice Collaborative has resources for this.
Nicole Spector asks us to pay special attention to the older adults within our society. She recommends taking the time to help older people with technology - for many, this is the only way we’ll be able to get swift, appropriate medical care. Technology will also help us stay connected with each other. On a personal level, you can send older relatives or friends care packages with non-perishables - we know that the virus is particularly dangerous for older people, so we need to help each other reduce risk, like grocery store runs.
Many communities and homeless shelters are in need of help right now. According to the non-profit Invisible People, many food kitchens and shelters still have great need for volunteers for food preparation and distribution. They may need extra help to sort clothes or disinfect and clean surfaces. For instance, in Berkeley, CA, their school district has continued to hand out meals to students who had been relying on school lunches to make it through the day.
Awareness, Amplification, and Intervention
People need to know about these injustices in order to address them.
As our friends over at Chinese American Voices reminded us in an interview for our upcoming podcast (stay tuned!), there’s also work to be done in amplifying the experiences of marginalized groups. You can raise awareness of bias by reading,believing, and spreading the stories of Asian Americans and other groups experiencing discrimination. This amplification can be practiced with any of the marginalized groups endangered disproportionately by this pandemic.
If you lead a group or team providing COVID19 resources, remember to make them inclusive by making sure the materials and messaging are inclusive as well as seeking a diverse group to inform how to build and distribute those resources.
Also, we must intervene when we witness racism, ableism, cisheterosexism, ageism, and all the rest. One way that the Unconscious Bias Project suggests for causing reflection and change is to transfer the work when we see or hear incidents of discrimination and bias - and we don’t have to be meek when we do it. If we read or hear conversations where people are underestimating the needs or devaluing the experiences of marginalized groups, ask them why they think it’s no big deal, challenge their assumptions about what challenges and injustices exist. This can be as private as calling in a friend who mistakenly cites poor education as a reason for high rates of COVID-19 in Black People (it’s not), or as public as defending someone in a grocery store.
Above all else, when in situations where you might observe bias, discrimination, and hate crimes don’t let it go unchallenged. If you’re safe to do so, help people understand why their actions are unjust. Afterwards, make sure to check in with people who’ve been the target of microaggressions or harassment to see if there’s anything else you could have done better, or still can do.
If you have connections to school districts, whether a volunteer, a parent, a teacher, an administrator, staff, ask them to be more sensitive to the needs of our students. So many students are struggling with inadequate resources. The Justice Collective has put out a list of recommendations for how to accommodate equitable digital learning for all. CORA Learning is developing toolkits for equitable learning during the pandemic for educators.
When you see people who are helping, make sure to share their links and spread the word.
This is especially important when activists are from marginalized groups themselves, for instance the Disability Justice Culture Club who are producing hygiene kits to distribute to homeless encampments.
Donations & Spending
If you have the means, there are a ton of ways to donate right now, and nonprofits need your help more than ever.
Asian Americans are targeted by overt verbal and violent racism. Julian Shen-Berro gives a few ways to help Asian American communities right now. You can donate to aid funds for local communities. For instance, in L.A., there is a donation fund for a food bank in Little Tokyo. Their website also suggests you get takeout from or buy gift certificates to local restaurants that have been especially hurt by bias against Asian Americans. You can also donate to the Hawai’i Resilience Fund.
We know that American Indians are being left out of many reports, despite being disproportionately impacted by the economic and medical reverberations of shelter-in-place orders. One group, the New Mexico Community Foundation has set up a Native American Relief Fund.
Funders for LGBTQ Issues has an extensive list of organizations you could donate to. You might donate to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute helping Black transgender and non-binary folks. There’s the Prism Foundation for Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ students and organizations. Wren Sanders has summarized 20 Ways to Support the Queer Community during Coronavirus. The Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBTQ+ youth is providing critical support while there is a huge additional strain on queer finances. Nico Lang wrote a similar article on 25 Fundraisers Giving Money and Hope to LGBTQ+ People During COVID-19. Black and Pink is a nonprofit helping incarcerated LGBTQ+ folks and is distributing hygienic care packages.
Speaking of prisons, there are a number of organizations giving relief to incarcerated populations. The Innocence Project suggests, for instance, donating to funds which help bail out prisoners, helping remove them from the unsanitary conditions in prisons, through organizations such as COVID Bailout NYC or the National Bail Fund Network. We know that immigrants, with documents or without, are often incarcerated unfairly. There are bail funds set up also for these populations, as well as legal funds.
The Coalition for the Homeless and the East Oakland Collective are examples of organizations helping unhoused people in major cities, and these people need our help more than ever right now.
For even more ways to give, check out this list by Morgan Simon over at Forbes for just some organizations that need help.
If you found this article helpful, please consider donating to or sharing the Unconscious Bias Project fundraiser.
If you’re still looking for more to do, Racial Equity Tools has put together a list of lists, with even more resources and initiatives. Solving collective problems with individual consequences will require collective action driven by individual helpers. We may be alone together, but the biggest key is that we are together.