“African Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 … We can’t just simply say that there is a disparity caused by coronavirus itself. It’s actually caused by poverty, inequity and systemic racism.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett, in an interview with a local news station made it a point to make this observation while being interviewed on the city’s response to COVID-19.
I couldn’t agree more.
I’ve often noted that despite being nearly 30% of Indianapolis, city leaders in the past rarely even said the word Black. That’s changed.
But perhaps more important than the mayor’s words were that they actually followed action specifically directed at the Black community.
Earlier in the week, the city announced its intentions to open testing sites in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Residents will not need to pay for testing.
This is part of the city’s response to the reality that Black Indianapolis is being hit hard by COVID-19.
We learned from the Marion County Health Department that Black residents are three times more likely than white residents to test positive for COVID-19. We are 2 1/2 times more likely to be hospitalized and twice as likely to die from complications related to coronavirus.
COVID-19 is ravaging Black Indianapolis—and we don’t really know what is happening with the Latinx community, who share similar disproportionate rates of underlying health conditions, due to data issues.
But we knew this was coming.
The mayor is right to point out that the virus, which doesn’t discriminate, is exploiting disparities in social and economic inequalities produced by poverty and systemic racism.
The Black Indianapolis experience with COVID-19 is a confluence of a broad spectrum of social and economic disparities that have lingered, festered and now risk undermining the vitality of the city.
I’ve outlined the sobering, shocking and even maddening statistics in previous columns, but what is needed now more than words is a plan and action.
Black civic leaders, pastors and community activists launched a conversation about both the challenges and the opportunities Black Indianapolis faced before COVID-19.
This effort continues to be a collection of a variety of different entities and that is OK. Black folks have different opinions. In fact, some Black folks I deeply respect have even questioned whether the city should even have a Black agenda. We simply disagree.
There needs to be a plan for addressing disparities experienced by the Black community at the city level.
A Black agenda should partner with elected officials but also be driven by our own actions. Government has harmed Black people and that work must be undone; and Black people have to do for self.
It is not wrong to believe that only policy makers can remove government created barriers — even while Black people maintain their autonomy and save themselves.
You need both.
The African American Coalition of Indianapolis has developed a listing of community concerns and recommendations outlining some aspirational goals, community concerns based on a review of data, and proposed actions, including both proposed policy changes and community actions.
There have been well over 20 community conversations, focus groups and one-on-ones with a wide range of Black community stakeholders with the vast majority of them occurring after the November election.
We’ve met at churches, restaurants, community centers, coffee shops and on social media. We’ve spoken to our elders and our youth, policy experts and concerned citizens, emerging community leaders and seasoned veterans, Black entrepreneurs, Black elected officials, Black nationalists and Black feminists, Black women’s groups and Black men’s groups and members of the Black LGBTQ community.
We’ve also learned about the diversity of perspectives inside of each of the aforementioned groups. Black folks got opinions.
But we aren’t done listening.
The discussions will never be over because we will always need to continue to discuss the future and our progress towards it.
But what is more significant is that we aren’t just talking.
We are taking action and making progress. In the next week or so, the AACI will provide an update to the community in the Indianapolis Recorder.
You will see progress on policy issues where the city made decisions that accrued to our benefit. You will also see progress due to actions the AACI has taken. There is some work that is still only just started and some efforts that are complete.
But the list isn’t likely to get shorter. As items are completed, we will add more. As we gain greater capacity as a community we will reach for more complex tasks.
Another reality is that this effort, in all transparency, is being built as we fly. The idea of sitting down and developing a shared vision for 238,000 people with metrics and actions plans using Roberts Rules of Order was unrealistic and likely has been the death of progress in the past.
We’ve also been in crisis for some time and we needed to make a move.
The work now for our community is to think past COVID-19 about where we want to be and what we need to do to get there.
Black agendas are necessary and happening in Indianapolis — they won’t stop.
Marshawn Wolley is a lecturer, commentator, business owner and civic entrepreneur. Contact him at marshawnwolley@gmail.com.
