Thoughts on Coronavirus
We’ve all seen the headlines. We know how bad this is. But are we missing the point?
There is an honourable focus with this virus on sticking together. Advertisers are applauding ‘couch potatriots’ (1) and the nation is coming together to #ClapForCarers. But is the reality not that Covid-19 highlights how far apart our lived experiences actually are?
As Afua Hirsch rightly points out, newspapers feature predominantly white medical staff (2), despite the fact that over 40% of doctors in the UK are from multicultural backgrounds, as well as over one-fifth of nurses (3). In the UK, people from Black and Asian backgrounds make up four- and two-times their proportion of the population for the numbers of people who are passing away from this virus respectively. The situation in the US is even more stark, with some areas reporting that over three-quarters of deadly cases are Black people, while they make up just one-quarter of the population (4).
But: we know this. We know that more disadvantaged populations are at higher risk from disease. We’ve always known this. And we’re not here to play into the same negative narrative that we see echoed across the media.
We’re here to call for action. What should you do if, like a third of people from Bangladeshi backgrounds (5), you live in a house that has fewer necessary bedrooms than people in it? What should you do if, like lots of London’s population (of which 40% is ‘BAME’), you don’t have access to a garden and the parks around you are closing? Access to green space itself ‘can reduce health inequalities [and] improve well-being’ (6), but this vital lifeline to communities is threatened with closure. We’re calling for governments to recognise the reality for people from different backgrounds, and officially address it.
We’re here to celebrate. We’re highlighting the real people who are making a day-to-day difference - not just in our medical system, but the key workers in our supermarkets and in our transport networks.
We’re here for genuine, long-lasting change. We’re here for inclusion when we need it most. This means fighting back against women and under-25s becoming the economic victims of this pandemic, moving beyond one-dimensional narratives of ethnic minorities and their lived experience, and keeping all voices at the table. And we’d love you to join us on this journey.
Keep up with what we’re doing during this time on our social’s, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Or join us at our free, open webinars or join one of our workshops on Online Presence and Unconscious Bias . And watch this space for our new timetable of free and low-cost events coming up.