Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Friday that long-term environmental racism and income inequality were causing coronavirus to disproportionately affect minorities.
“COVID deaths are disproportionately spiking in Black + Brown communities,” Ocasio-Cortez began, explaining that the reason for that was related to decades of racial and income inequality.
Ocasio-Cortez then argued that long-term policies had created a different kind of “underlying health condition,” adding, “Why? Because the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap, etc. ARE underlying health conditions.”
“Inequality is a comorbidity,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded by calling for reparations to those hardest hit. “COVID relief should be drafted with a lens of reparations.” (RELATED: ‘Crumbs For Our Families’: Ocasio-Cortez Unloads On ‘Shameful’ Senate Coronavirus Relief Bill)
COVID deaths are disproportionately spiking in Black + Brown communities.
Why? Because the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap, etc. ARE underlying health conditions.
Inequality is a comorbidity. COVID relief should be drafted with a lens of reparations.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 3, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez has also been outspoken about the impact that widespread unemployment could have in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
10 million people *that we know of* are newly unemployed in the US.
This is an unprecedented crisis.
The Federal gov has the power to guarantee healthcare, housing, & basic income.
Yet conservative officials are resisting doing the bare minimum to save lives. It’s a betrayal. https://t.co/YshBMvjrTR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 2, 2020
Rep. @AOC: “Unemployment takes a huge emotional and mental toll… This is not just an economic issue. It’s an issue of health. It’s an issue of stress. It’s an issue of mental health.” pic.twitter.com/w5pYLXnnrx
— The Hill (@thehill) April 2, 2020