Black athletes could ease vaccine fears
Lebron James needs a shot in the arm. As a prominent Black voice, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar should provide an important public service by getting and promoting the COVID-19 vaccine as a safe and smart health benefit.
Black Americans are nearly three times more likely to die of the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But before a vaccine became available in December, only 54% of Black adults said they were likely to get the vaccine, according to a study from the Pew Research Center. About 44% said they would not get the shot.
If James and other high-profile Black athletes would bare their arms to the needle, the effect would help break down distrust in medical health care by people of color, especially those in disenfranchised communities.
James and many of his peers have spoken out on matters of racial injustice, giving their support to the Black Lives Matter movement. What a perfect time to speak out again so those lives have a better medical chance of mattering into the future.
Don’t just take it from me, a white
sports columnist. Listen to what three Black professionals who have already received the vaccine or plan to — a former Ohio State football player; an emergency medicine doctor; and a historian — have to say about the powerful effect Black athletes would have on convincing skeptics that the vaccine is safe and effective.
“Unfortunately there is a longstanding mistrust by minorities with medicine, and other parts of our society, due to systemic racism,” said Kelli Robinson, a third-year emergency medicine resident physician at the Ohio State Medical Center who has received her two does of the vaccine. “Any sort of public figure in the media and news, having done their research, can sort of break that mistrust.”
Serving on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19, Robinson sees the medical imbalances based on race play out in real time, but explained that more than just Black mistrust is at work.
“It’s heartbreaking to see these surveys showing (Blacks) less likely to get the vaccine,” she said. “Part of the hesitancy is not only the vaccine itself, but information on the vaccine. Unfortunately, as with other aspects of health care, minorities aren’t in the front row.”
It is possible, perhaps even probable, that hearing famous Black athletes explain how and where to get vaccinated is the most effective method of getting minorities to the place — and literally the places — where they feel comfortable enough to get vaccinated.
Joshua Perry picked up on that theme. The former Ohio State linebacker stressed that persuading Blacks to get vaccinated is a symptom in need of a larger remedy.
“The distrust of the system is going to exist as long as there are reasons for that distrust to exist,” said Perry said, who plans to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to him. “That is the bigger picture; what do we do about it?”
Athletes can and should play a larger role in addressing those societal action steps. Like it or not — and many fans/critics don’t like it, still wanting their sports stars to “shut up and dribble” — athletes and entertainers wield influence and hold sway on issues of politics, culture and religion. President Biden’s inauguration, attended by sports and Hollywood celebrities, felt as much like an emotional church service as a swearing-in ceremony.
“It’s so impactful,” Perry said of entertainers speaking up. “Especially for people of color who are my age and younger, who have watched guys like Lebron from the time we were in elementary school. It’s important to hear a voice like that because we have come to trust prominent athletes more than we trust politicians. That’s the sad reality. Lebron holds more influence than Joe Biden.”
Charles Wash, director of the National Afro-american Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, tethered past to present in laying out the need for Black athletes to advocate for social justice — and vaccine protection — as a way to cut through minority apprehension. And make no mistake, such apprehension is understandable to anyone studying history.
“I hearken back to Muhammad Ali, his social and political activism,” Wash said. “A lot of our athletes now, we have a lot more who are not shying away from it, which is a good thing, because people look up to them especially.”
Wise wags a warning finger at those who question whether Blacks face higher hurdles when seeking standard medical treatment.
“Black women, especially, are not given the benefit of the doubt about their symptoms,” he said. “For people of color the medical coverage just isn’t there. It’s just subpar.”
Despite incongruities in medical treatment that erode Black trust, Wash takes a straightforward view of the COVID-19 vaccine he will receive.
“As a historian I understand why people of color, and Black Americans specifically, don’t trust vaccines. But this is a different situation from before,” he said. “This is a worldwide pandemic where thousands of people every day are dying. You have to view vaccines in this context.”
It would be great if Lebron James and other Black athletes preached a similar sermon. roller@dispatch.com @rollercd