COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations

Anuli U. Njoku

doi:10.21601/ejeph/10999

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Anuli U. Njoku ¹ ^*

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¹ Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Services, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

COVID-19, the pandemic of highly contagious respiratory disease, presents a global public health emergency. Racial and ethnic minority groups in the USA are more likely to contract, be hospitalized with, and die from COVID-19 versus whites, highlighting glaring health disparities. Injustices such as the persistent issue of police brutality against Blacks in the USA, along with the racial disparities and inequities underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, have brought renewed global focus to issues of social justice in the USA. Moreover, there is a need to examine how environmental racism intensifies the COVID-19 pandemic and illuminates racial inequities in exposure to environmental pollutants. This article describes environmental racism and its impact on people of color in the USA, critically examines how this practice elevates disease risk among racial and ethnic minorities already susceptible to COVID-19, and proposes recommendations to tackle this pervasive issue.

Keywords

Coronavirus
COVID-19
health disparities
racism
environmental health
social determinants of health

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EUR J ENV PUBLIC HLT, 2021, Volume 5, Issue 2, Article No: em0079

https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999

Publication date: 23 Jun 2021

Article Views: 5400

Article Downloads: 6231

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Njoku AU. COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations. EUR J ENV PUBLIC HLT. 2021;5(2):em0079. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999

APA

Njoku, A. U. (2021). COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 5(2), em0079. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999

AMA

Njoku AU. COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations. EUR J ENV PUBLIC HLT. 2021;5(2), em0079. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999

Chicago

Njoku, Anuli U.. "COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations". European Journal of Environment and Public Health 2021 5 no. 2 (2021): em0079. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999

Harvard

Njoku, A. U. (2021). COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 5(2), em0079. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999

MLA

Njoku, Anuli U. "COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations". European Journal of Environment and Public Health, vol. 5, no. 2, 2021, em0079. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejeph/10999