In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, some experts believed that the virus would affect everyone equally, regardless of race or socioeconomic status.
However, the reality of COVID was far from the “great equalizer”; Black and brown communities had higher infection and mortality rates. America’s legacy of racial and economic segregation is one of the factors exacerbating COVID-19’s impact.
In this episode, we speak with Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who played a crucial role in directing the United States’ response to COVID-19.
Fauci and Nicholas St. Fleur discuss the disproportionate burden that African-American and Latino communities confronted during the pandemic. In addition, we interview Martine Hackett, a professor of public health at Hofstra University, to hone in on the disparities in health outcomes on Long Island during the pandemic.
We interviewed Helen Meier, an epidemiologist from the University of Michigan, and Bruce Mitchell, a senior analyst with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, to gain a better understanding of the historical context and contemporary effects of redlining, which consisted of housing and mortgage lending discrimination on the basis of race.
And Adesuwa Watson, director of the Suffolk County Office of Minority Health, describes her efforts to resolve the local health disparities she observed at the outbreak of the pandemic.
“Color Code” is available for subscription on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, and other platforms. The release of new episodes will occur every other Monday.
