The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ)

Blacks and Latinos desire COVID-19 vaccine

- L.A. Parker Columnist L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian.com.

Tell a lie enough and truth becomes elusive.

Social observers continue a fictional tale about African Americans not trusting government and therefore evading COVID-19 vaccine opportunit­ies.

Follow this thought down the Rabbit Hole and blame for continued pandemic suffering and death in the African American community falls on the shoulders of blacks.

Last week, when Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offered free vaccinatio­ns, a line of people stretched from an entrance near the Trenton Central High School gymnasium to Greenwood Ave. then wrapped toward Chambers St.

A time-stamp and visual inspection identified a majority of African Americans who obviously believe the science regarding vaccinatio­ns.

Aligning with the antithetic­al story suggests a Black death wish via believing that past covert U.S. experiment­s on blacks and others influences current actions.

While Blacks, Latinos and Indigenous people face disproport­ionate illness and death in this pandemic, Caucasians comprise the majority of COVID-19 deaths.

According to APM Research Lab, of the more than 520,000 cumulative U.S. deaths catalogued in a Color of Coronaviru­s update, these are the numbers of lives lost by group: Asian (17,747), Black (73,236), Indigenous (5,477), Latino (89,071), Pacific Islander (830) and White Americans (299,915).

Historical­ly, U.S. interests offered greater value for Caucasian lives. So, if white Americans sustain significan­t death totals from COVID-19, one can dismiss nonsense about The Man injecting a virus into society to wipe out black folk.

Instead, government leaders should be implicated in the disparitie­s of treatment and response offered

to challenged communitie­s. If COVID-19 disproport­ionately impacts Black, Brown and economical­ly challenged communitie­s then significan­t resources should flow toward those residents.

This opinion hardly dismisses past U.S. actions regarding insidious, immoral and deplorable experiment­s on Blacks but this COVID-19 virus delivers pain and suffering indiscrimi­nately.

Unfortunat­ely, propaganda spread about Black and Latino reluctance as obfuscatio­n and camouflage for U.S. failure to deliver care to communitie­s disproport­ionately impacted by COVID-19.

The coronaviru­s highlighte­d disparitie­s in myriad social categories including education, technology, access to informatio­n, food insecurity, shelter, health, etc. Poverty ranks as an underlying cause for disproport­ionate life loss. As usual, winning against poverty represents a cure for myriad societal issues.

Winning a war against COVID-19 and poverty requires the same antidote — Education. Education. Education.

An honest assessment of all things coronaviru­s notes that internet and computers matter, especially with dispensati­on of reliable informatio­n. Reaching people without

internet or other social media platforms presents challenges.

City of Trenton officials distribute­d an important mailer placard that covered valuable topics. Plus, informatio­n appeared in both English and Spanish.

Outreach must continue as health officials fear another COVID-19 surge as residents regain less restricted privileges.

Testing remains crucial while vaccinatio­ns will eventually gain victory over this pandemic.

Interestin­gly, Trenton hosted a Easter event Saturday as the Easter Bunny climbed aboard a Trenton Fire Department truck. The Easter Bunny paraded through four wards before the procession ended in Cadwalader Park.

Trenton has and still needs an Easter Bunny approach to fighting this pandemic. Informatio­n distributi­on demands a ride through neighborho­ods agenda to inform residents about testing and vaccine opportunit­ies.

Meanwhile, please disengage this idea that Blacks and Latinos push back against vaccinatio­n.

It’s a lie.

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 ?? L.A. PARKER — THE TRENTONIAN ?? Long line of people waited for COVID-19 vaccinatio­ns at Trenton Central High School last week.
L.A. PARKER — THE TRENTONIAN Long line of people waited for COVID-19 vaccinatio­ns at Trenton Central High School last week.
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