Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) Tuesday night on CSPAN blamed “environmental racism” for the higher rates of coronavirus infections and deaths among minorities.
When asked about the disparity, Tlaib said, “Yeah, I mean, look at racial disparities. You look at 40% of the people that have died from COVID in the state of Michigan are African-American even though the African-American population in Michigan is less than 15%. That alone tells you the racial disparities and that they have already been disconnected, maybe coverage of healthcare, maybe they live in what I would call very polluted and very overwhelming community with just corporate polluters all around, so they are already dealing with a lot of these challenges that come into the fact when you have a national pandemic like this, when you have a virus like this, that can really impact someone who has pre-existing conditions.”
She continued, “So, yes, we have talked about environmental racism, but I don’t think we really understood what that really means. If you look at Michigan, where some of the most polluting corporations from Marathon to AK Steel, U.S. Steel, many of these companies, you look in the shadows, it’s African American families that live there.”
She added, “I hope at least now we are seeing the ugly face of what doing nothing looks like. I hope we go back and realize people died because they could not access what they need. It may be testing. It may be treatment. People died because they lived in communities that were over-polluted. People died because they don’t have access to quality jobs that offer that kind of healthcare coverage. I think there needs to be a full-blown reflection when we get back because I don’t think we go back to normal.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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