2020 is the year of the pandemic. The SARS-Cov-2 (Covid19) virus has rampaged across the planet infecting 4,893,136 [1] people by May 20, 2020. At this time, of those 4.8M people, 323,256 people have perished from complications that arise from the infection.
Arising out of this pandemic has been a narrative about non-white ethnic groups being disproportionately affected by the infection [6,7,8]. A narrative that conditions people to believe that they are perpetually victims only creates a "collective victimhood" [4,5] in that group. This "collective victimhood" costs its members millions in unrealized potential, sends them cowering from social interactions that would otherwise benefit them, and ultimately creates an environment that perpetuates itself.
Let's try to dispel that false narrative and deal just with data. I pulled my data from the CDC [9] looking at mortality only.
The mortality data from CDC contains per-state mortality rates on a per-infection basis and a weighted per-capita basis. This means that you will see a mortality rate as a function of infections, and then one that is weighted by the population of "race identifiers" in that group.
I am also using data from May 20th, 2020. You may have newer data when you read this.
The first three rows of the data give the United States aggregate statistics.
Non-Hispanic White: 52.3% of covid19 deaths as a group of covid19 infections
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 22.4% of aggregate
Hispanic or Latino : 16.6% of aggregate
Now let's correct that number for the actual population of the ethnic group.
Non-Hispanic White: 41.4%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 18.2%
Hispanic or Latino : 26.8%
The numbers clearly show that Non-Hispanic Whites are the vast majority of deaths in the U.S. from covid-19 related illness.
This race narrative had to originate somewhere, right? Let's find it. Again, I am looking at the weighted distribution of population for mortality, which is a better depiction of per-capital mortality rate as a function of infection per aggregate.
California:
Non-Hispanic White: 37.9%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 9.9%
Hispanic or Latino : 33.4%
Washington, D.C.
Non-Hispanic White: 37.1%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 44.9%
Hispanic or Latino : 11.3%
Florida:
Non-Hispanic White: 31.8%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 18.5%
Hispanic or Latino : 45.8%
New Mexico:
Non-Hispanic White: 38.5%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 2.2%
Hispanic or Latino : 46.3%
New York City (NYC):
Non-Hispanic White: 30.5%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 23.3%
Hispanic or Latino : 28.5%
Texas:
Non-Hispanic White: 32.9%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 16.9%
Hispanic or Latino : 41.8%
The rest of the states in the U.S. are dominated by Non-Hispanic White infection mortality, so they are not reported here.
The CDC doesn't report error in its numbers. I suspect there is going to be a good margin of error in this data set where the reporting of a "covid 19 death" may not be covid-19 related. Someone who died of cardiac arrest while convalescing for covid-19 may be mis-identified in the mortality group. A 5% error rate would be expected, in my opinion.
NYC is a good example of how the infection likely really looks like. It did not discriminate along racial boundaries in NYC.
In many states there is an ethic group that is disproportionately affected by covid-19 related mortality, and that is the Latino population. Yet, this is only true for border states where there is a higher rate of immigration from the Latino countries into the U.S.
Why do we care about this, anyway? A false victim narrative perpetuates stereotypes. Perpetuating "group victimhood" further maligns the efforts of ethnic groups such as African Americans who have actually been, or are actively being, victims of many bonafide social injustices. What we don't need is setbacks in the fostering of improved self esteem and inter-racial relations by creating false narratives that sell news eyeballs.
The economic fallout of the pandemic quarantine [11,12,13] is another story. Low income labor has been hit the hardest during the quarantine. It is one of many social injustices where minority groups like African Americans are likely the dominant demographic in those low income labor groups [14].
Victims, or people who believe themselves to be a "victim," rarely have the self esteem necessary to rise out of that self defeating cycle of poverty [10,15]. Let's be more accurate in our reporting and make it clear that the economic fallout from this quarantine will likely affect minority groups in a disproportionate way on a per-capita basis. It's not the virus infection and mortality that is affecting ethnic groups disproportionately.
One economic control the US government should enact is a $500 or $1000 tax credit for every minority worker hired during the unemployment recovery period who is employed for at least 12 months.
If you're looking for a job, then it's time for you to research where money was being spent before the quarantine. Hope to see you in Santa Cruz, CA, or Cleveland, OK (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cleveland,+OK+74020/@36.2477537,-96.5976006,10.81z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87b12c3a0f452771:0x84101fddb9c18660!8m2!3d36.3100688!4d-96.4641886), yes that's Oklahoma.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/
=== References ===
[1] https://covid19.who.int/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzZj2BRDVARIsABs3l9LAUvp2K20psuvBZrx5OGxVmWQFMoKEossusyV27Nwtel_kFF0jTPUaAt9NEALw_wcB
[2] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/18/835563340/whos-hit-hardest-by-covid-19-why-obesity-stress-and-race-all-matter
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/opinion/coronavirus-race-class.html
[4] https://sites.insead.edu/facultyresearch/research/doc.cfm?did=50114
[5] https://www.siue.edu/~njohnag/on-individual-responsibility/
[6] https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race
[7] https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/minority-communities-covid-19.html
[8] https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/5-20-2020/COVID_19-and-the-'race-tax'--/
[9] https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-Death-Counts-for-Coronavirus-Disease-C/pj7m-y5uh
[10] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-well/201502/how-break-the-bonds-victimhood-and-build-self-esteem
[11] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/controlling-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-the-economic-fallout-may-be-above-politicians-pay-grade-2020-04-15
[12] https://www.forbes.com/sites/randybrown/2020/04/16/if-covid-19-is-like-past-pandemics-we-could-face-decades-of-economic-fallout/#5e2f40353b81
[13] https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-economy-top-likely-global-fallout-scenarios-risks-wef-survey-2020-5
[14] https://www.epi.org/indicators/state-unemployment-race-ethnicity/
[15] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/black-white-unemployment-gap/421497/
Arising out of this pandemic has been a narrative about non-white ethnic groups being disproportionately affected by the infection [6,7,8]. A narrative that conditions people to believe that they are perpetually victims only creates a "collective victimhood" [4,5] in that group. This "collective victimhood" costs its members millions in unrealized potential, sends them cowering from social interactions that would otherwise benefit them, and ultimately creates an environment that perpetuates itself.
Let's try to dispel that false narrative and deal just with data. I pulled my data from the CDC [9] looking at mortality only.
The mortality data from CDC contains per-state mortality rates on a per-infection basis and a weighted per-capita basis. This means that you will see a mortality rate as a function of infections, and then one that is weighted by the population of "race identifiers" in that group.
I am also using data from May 20th, 2020. You may have newer data when you read this.
The first three rows of the data give the United States aggregate statistics.
Non-Hispanic White: 52.3% of covid19 deaths as a group of covid19 infections
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 22.4% of aggregate
Hispanic or Latino : 16.6% of aggregate
Now let's correct that number for the actual population of the ethnic group.
Non-Hispanic White: 41.4%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 18.2%
Hispanic or Latino : 26.8%
The numbers clearly show that Non-Hispanic Whites are the vast majority of deaths in the U.S. from covid-19 related illness.
This race narrative had to originate somewhere, right? Let's find it. Again, I am looking at the weighted distribution of population for mortality, which is a better depiction of per-capital mortality rate as a function of infection per aggregate.
California:
Non-Hispanic White: 37.9%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 9.9%
Hispanic or Latino : 33.4%
Washington, D.C.
Non-Hispanic White: 37.1%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 44.9%
Hispanic or Latino : 11.3%
Florida:
Non-Hispanic White: 31.8%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 18.5%
Hispanic or Latino : 45.8%
New Mexico:
Non-Hispanic White: 38.5%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 2.2%
Hispanic or Latino : 46.3%
New York City (NYC):
Non-Hispanic White: 30.5%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 23.3%
Hispanic or Latino : 28.5%
Texas:
Non-Hispanic White: 32.9%
Non-Hispanic Black or African American : 16.9%
Hispanic or Latino : 41.8%
The rest of the states in the U.S. are dominated by Non-Hispanic White infection mortality, so they are not reported here.
The CDC doesn't report error in its numbers. I suspect there is going to be a good margin of error in this data set where the reporting of a "covid 19 death" may not be covid-19 related. Someone who died of cardiac arrest while convalescing for covid-19 may be mis-identified in the mortality group. A 5% error rate would be expected, in my opinion.
NYC is a good example of how the infection likely really looks like. It did not discriminate along racial boundaries in NYC.
In many states there is an ethic group that is disproportionately affected by covid-19 related mortality, and that is the Latino population. Yet, this is only true for border states where there is a higher rate of immigration from the Latino countries into the U.S.
Why do we care about this, anyway? A false victim narrative perpetuates stereotypes. Perpetuating "group victimhood" further maligns the efforts of ethnic groups such as African Americans who have actually been, or are actively being, victims of many bonafide social injustices. What we don't need is setbacks in the fostering of improved self esteem and inter-racial relations by creating false narratives that sell news eyeballs.
The economic fallout of the pandemic quarantine [11,12,13] is another story. Low income labor has been hit the hardest during the quarantine. It is one of many social injustices where minority groups like African Americans are likely the dominant demographic in those low income labor groups [14].
Victims, or people who believe themselves to be a "victim," rarely have the self esteem necessary to rise out of that self defeating cycle of poverty [10,15]. Let's be more accurate in our reporting and make it clear that the economic fallout from this quarantine will likely affect minority groups in a disproportionate way on a per-capita basis. It's not the virus infection and mortality that is affecting ethnic groups disproportionately.
One economic control the US government should enact is a $500 or $1000 tax credit for every minority worker hired during the unemployment recovery period who is employed for at least 12 months.
If you're looking for a job, then it's time for you to research where money was being spent before the quarantine. Hope to see you in Santa Cruz, CA, or Cleveland, OK (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cleveland,+OK+74020/@36.2477537,-96.5976006,10.81z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87b12c3a0f452771:0x84101fddb9c18660!8m2!3d36.3100688!4d-96.4641886), yes that's Oklahoma.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/
=== References ===
[1] https://covid19.who.int/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzZj2BRDVARIsABs3l9LAUvp2K20psuvBZrx5OGxVmWQFMoKEossusyV27Nwtel_kFF0jTPUaAt9NEALw_wcB
[2] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/18/835563340/whos-hit-hardest-by-covid-19-why-obesity-stress-and-race-all-matter
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/opinion/coronavirus-race-class.html
[4] https://sites.insead.edu/facultyresearch/research/doc.cfm?did=50114
[5] https://www.siue.edu/~njohnag/on-individual-responsibility/
[6] https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race
[7] https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/minority-communities-covid-19.html
[8] https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/5-20-2020/COVID_19-and-the-'race-tax'--/
[9] https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-Death-Counts-for-Coronavirus-Disease-C/pj7m-y5uh
[10] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-well/201502/how-break-the-bonds-victimhood-and-build-self-esteem
[11] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/controlling-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-the-economic-fallout-may-be-above-politicians-pay-grade-2020-04-15
[12] https://www.forbes.com/sites/randybrown/2020/04/16/if-covid-19-is-like-past-pandemics-we-could-face-decades-of-economic-fallout/#5e2f40353b81
[13] https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-economy-top-likely-global-fallout-scenarios-risks-wef-survey-2020-5
[14] https://www.epi.org/indicators/state-unemployment-race-ethnicity/
[15] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/black-white-unemployment-gap/421497/