Table Of Content“This collection of essays by a group of distinguished scholars examines the impact
of COVID- 19 on America’s racial and ethnic minorities. I highly encourage anyone
interested in this timely and important topic to reflect on these essays from various
methodologies on the wide array of lessons learned from the pandemic.”
Jason Casellas, Associate Professor of Political Science,
University of Houston, USA
“Drawing together cutting- edge scholarship from across multiple disciplines, this
collection of essays powerfully details how the COVID- 19 pandemic both unveiled
and exacerbated systemic and persistent racial inequities for communities of color
across the United States. This is a must- read for policymakers and scholars of public
health, race, and political science.”
Teresa Irene Gonzales, Assistant Professor of Sociology,
University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
“The authors cover disparities in access to healthcare, the effects of a lack of appro-
priate media coverage, the effects of racism, and almost every institutional aspect
that affected the response to COVID-19 to effectively demonstrate the devastating
disproportionate effects on the Latinx and African American communities. Indeed,
as Navarro and Hernandez claim, it is a ‘race war’ being waged on communities
of color through the failure of the system to respond properly and the inability of
these communities to access healthcare generally.”
Henry Flores, Distinguished University Research Professor Emeritus of
Political Science, St. Mary’s University, USA
THE COLOR OF COVID- 19
The COVID- 19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of
color while highlighting the prevalence of structural racism in the United States.
This crucial collection of essays, written by leading scholars from the fields of
communications, political science, health, philosophy, and geography, explores the
manifold ways in which the COVID-1 9 pandemic has impacted upon Black, Latinx,
and Indigenous communities and the way we see race relations in the United States.
The COVID- 19 pandemic has exposed the significance of U.S. health inequalities,
which the World Health Organization defines as “avoidable [and] unfair.” It has also
highlighted structural racism, specifically, institutions, practices, values, customs, and
policies that differentially allocate resources and opportunities so as to increase
inequity among racial groups. Navarro and Hernandez therefore argue that the
COVID- 19 pandemic has unleashed a race war in America that has further
marginalized communities of color by limiting access to resources by different racial
and ethnic minorities, particularly women within these communities. Moreover,
the systemic policies of the past that upheld or failed to address the unequal
social conditions affecting Blacks, Latinxs, and other minorities have now been
magnified with COVID- 19. The volume concludes by offering recommendations
to prevent future humanitarian crises from exacerbating racial divisions and having
a disproportionate impact upon ethnic minorities.
This timely volume will be of great interest to those interested in the study of
race and the social impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic in the United States.
Sharon A. Navarro is a professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at
San Antonio, United States. Her research interests include women in politics, race
and American politics, and Latinx politics. She is author of Latina Legislator: Leticia
Van De Putte and the Road to Leadership (Texas A&M University Press, 2008) and
co- author of Políticas: Latina Public Officials in Texas (University of Texas Press, 2008).
She is also co- editor of Latinas and the Politics of Urban Spaces (Routledge, 2020),
Race, Gender, Sexuality, and the Politics of the American Judiciary (Cambridge University
Press, 2018), Latinas in American Politics: Changing and Embracing Political Tradition
(Lexington Books, 2016), and The Roots of Latino Urban Agency (University of
North Texas Press, 2013).
Samantha L. Hernandez is a visiting scholar at the Institute for Latino Studies at
the University of Notre Dame, United States, and Director of Policy and Strategic
Affairs at San Antonio City Council. She is co- editor of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and
the Politics of the American Judiciary (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and Latinas in
American Politics: Changing and Embracing Political Tradition (Lexington Books, 2016).
Her work has also been featured in the Gender and Politics journal and various media
outlets, including New York Times, NBC Nightly News, Marketwatch, WIRED, and
The Wall Street Journal.
THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC SERIES
This series examines the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic on individuals, com-
munities, countries, and the larger global society from a social scientific perspec-
tive. It represents a timely and critical advance in knowledge related to what many
believe to be the greatest threat to global ways of being in more than a century. It is
imperative that academics take their rightful place alongside medical professionals
as the world attempts to figure out how to deal with the current global pandemic,
and how society might move forward in the future. This series represents a response
to that imperative.
Series Editor: J. Michael Ryan
Titles in this Series:
Creative Resilience and COVID- 19
Figuring the Everyday in a Pandemic
Edited by Irene Gammel and Jason Wang
COVID- 19 and Childhood Inequality
Edited by Nazneen Khan
The Color of COVID- 19
The Racial Inequality of Marginalized Communities
Edited by Sharon A. Navarro and Samantha L. Hernandez
COVID- 19, Communication and Culture
Beyond the Global Workplace
Edited by Fiona Rossette- Crake and Elvis Buckwalter
THE COLOR OF
COVID- 19
The Racial Inequality of Marginalized
Communities
Edited by Sharon A. Navarro and
Samantha L. Hernandez
Cover image: © zimmytws / iStock images / Getty Images
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Sharon A. Navarro and Samantha L. Hernandez;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Sharon A. Navarro and Samantha L. Hernandez to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-21509-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-21507-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-26871-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003268710
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
CONTENTS
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
List of Contributors xiv
Foreword xxi
Acknowledgments xxiii
J. Michael Ryan
1 Introduction 1
Sharon A. Navarro and Samantha L. Hernandez
2 Placing a Band- Aid on a Bullet Wound? Black and Latinx
Educational Experiences During a Pandemic 12
Dani Parker Moore, Betina Cutaia Wilkinson, Olivia Field, and
Alondra Ramirez
3 Necessity as the Mother of Invention: Attempting to Overcome
the Digital Divide During the COVID- 19 Pandemic 29
Adam McGlynn and Caitlyn Stout
4 COVID- 19 Racial Disparities: A Content Analysis of News
Media Coverage 46
Sarah V. Gordon- Brilla, Dana L. Rogers, Jackson Higginbottom,
Leila M. Ensha, and Ryan A. Sutherland
5 Perceptions of COVID- 19 and BLM Protesting on Twitter 66
Tanya E. Gardner, Wei Sun, and Carolyn A. Stroman
