As the COVID-19 death toll nears 8,000 across Canada, one group of activists wants to make sure B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Black communities are not forgotten.
Kevonnie Whyte, one of the creators of the , said the government needs to begin collecting race-based data for COVID-19 cases and deaths.
B次元官网网址淗aving race-based data is a key part in exposing the systemic injustices that still exist,B次元官网网址� Whyte told Black Press Media by phone.
Some information on systemic racism is coming to light in Statistics Canada census date, although the group believes itB次元官网网址檚 not comprehensive enough.
B次元官网网址淲e can see just in the Vancouver context alone, that the median income of Black Canadians is $29,000 compared to $42,000 that is earned by white Canadians,B次元官网网址� Whyte said. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 a difference of more than $10,000.B次元官网网址�
The groupB次元官网网址檚 work comes as Canadians begin to grapple with racism here at home, spurred on by protests that began south of the border but have since spread to cities big and small.
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While race-based data on COVID-19 has not been collected, either in B.C. or at the federal level, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the option to collect race-based data was not included in the initial national case report forms for the novel coronavirus.
B次元官网网址淲e have used some proxies in terms of looking at neighbourhoods,B次元官网网址� Henry said during a news conference earlier this week.
However, the COVID-19 survey B次元官网网址渧ery specificallyB次元官网网址� asked about race and ethnicity, she added. More than 260,000 people across B.C. have filled out the survey. As of Thursday (June 11), 167 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C.
B次元官网网址淚t is important to us to understand the impact of this pandemicB次元官网网址� [and how it] differentially affects people in racialized communities.B次元官网网址�
Although that data is not available in B.C., WhyteB次元官网网址檚 lived experience has shown her it likely mirrors what has been seen in the U.S.
That led Whyte, and a group of 10 other Black and Indigenous organizers, to create the Black in B.C. Community Support Fund for COVID-19.
B次元官网网址淏lack people tend not to be permanent residents or people with citizenship. A lot of the Black community in B.CB次元官网网址�. tend to be on work visas or are international students and would not qualify for EI or the Canada Emergency Response Benefit,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淏lack folks tend to be harder hit by this pandemicB次元官网网址� based on the evidence we see in the United States.B次元官网网址�
According to race-based data collected by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, Black people are overrepresented among hospitalized patients. In New York, one of the cities that categorizes COVID-19 deaths by race, the Black community sat at 92.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Deaths among white New Yorkers were at 45.2 per 100,000.
| Dr. Ala Stanford administers a COVID-19 swab test on Wade Jeffries in the parking lot of Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Stanford and other doctors formed the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium to offer testing and help address heath disparities in the African American community. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) |
Although the community support fund is meant to help B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Black community as a whole, it is focused on those ineligible for federal or provincial aid programs. As of Thursday (June 11), the had raised more than $152,000 from 2,700 donors. The money is being given out in $150 chunks.
Whyte said with the money they have raised they are now trying to raise awareness for Black people in need.
B次元官网网址淲e are encouraging Black folks to apply,B次元官网网址� Whyte said.
As they work on making the community support fund a more formal organization, Whyte said the group will also continue to push for properly collected race-based data.
B次元官网网址淭he B次元官网网址榟owB次元官网网址� is just as important as the aim of it being collected,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淲e are calling for it to be collected specifically in cooperation with the racialized communities.B次元官网网址�
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Whyte said gathering race-based data on COVID-19, or in health care in general, would take a paradigm shift where Canadians acknowledge the role of systemic racism.
B次元官网网址淚 believe that Canadians have this notion that racism isnB次元官网网址檛 a problem here,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淭hat has caused us to stall, and be stagnant, and thereB次元官网网址檚 no impetus and no motivation to want to expose it and work to correct it.B次元官网网址�
The data needs to be B次元官网网址渃o-owned, analyzed and interpreted with leadership from racialized communities.B次元官网网址�
Provincial and federal governments, she said, need to create and abide by ethical rules for both the collection and use of the data, taking into account privacy concerns.
B次元官网网址淗istory has shown that when data is collected on marginalized communities, often times it can we used to weaponize against them,B次元官网网址� Whyte said, instead of being used to inform evidence-based health care, social programs and interventions in tandem with racialized communities.
To learn more about the Black in B.C. Community Support Fund for COVID-19, visit: .
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