In a time of great unrest for our country, one thing is clear: the actions or inactions of this administration stem from a desire to keep in place a system that oppresses people of color.
This past year, we went from the coronavirus pandemic, to mass protests after the death of George Floyd, another Black man dead at the hands of the police. These two events similarly show the systemic flaws of the U.S. but they also showed how skewed President Donald Trump’s priorities are.
Remember when COVID-19 was first spreading around the world at a rapid pace? Trump repeatedly compared it to the flu and even called the growing worry of the virus a hoax.
Consequently, Trump’s inaction has caused the current system to be too slow to act, which caused thousands of deaths.
And it is clear people of color are getting the worst of it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 affects people of color the most because of their work circumstances, living conditions and most importantly, less access to healthcare.
In March, relatively early in the pandemic, medical staff were already vitally short on protective equipment. Not just machinery like ventilators, but even basic protective gear like face masks, gloves, gowns and testing kits were in short supply.
Doctors and nurses often had to resort to makeshift protective equipment made from household items such as trash bags.
At that time, Trump made overtures at employing the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era bill that allows the federal government to take control of private industrial production and use it to make items essential for national defense. In this case, equipment to protect medical staff from the coronavirus.
However, Trump never came through on that promise, saying that the problem of supplying medical workers is not one for the federal government to solve.
"This is really for the local governments, governors and people within the state, depending on the way they divide it up," Trump said on the matter, according to a March 19 CNN article.
COVID-19 disproportionately affects people of color, something that the Trump administration knows because of the CDC, so it makes sense in the cold calculus of politics that the president would withhold federal help in stemming the tide of coronavirus deaths.
In contrast, his reaction to the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder was incendiary.
"I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to stop the rioting and looting,” Trump said."If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them."
He then made that June 1 walk across the street to St. John’s Church as riot police cleared a path through peaceful protesters for him with tear gas and rubber bullets, all for a tone-deaf photo-op.
When the federal government had the opportunity to help those in need and protect medical staff dealing with the pandemic, it was a state issue and its hands were tied.
Yet when it came to protesting, an act protected by the First Amendment, Trump immediately threatened unarmed, majority Black citizens with domination by the U.S. armed forces, silencing their voices and taking away their ability to bring light to the systemic inequalities that plague them.
Ultimately, the president’s reluctance to utilize the Defense Production Act is not an issue of cost.
According to a 2017 invoice from Columbus, Georgia quoted in InStyle magazine, the cost of outfitting an officer for a riot is roughly around $470. The InStyle article also points out that a nurse’s personal protective equipment costs around $15, even after accounting for the inflated prices of medical gear during COVID-19.
Which means gearing up a single police officer for a riot costs about as much as protecting 31 nurses from catching and possibly transmitting COVID-19.
Clearly, it’s not an issue of money because it would be cheaper to outfit nurses with protective equipment which could keep them from catching and transmitting COVID-19 to others. This in turn would reduce health care costs.
The problem stems from the Trump administration’s inaction when it comes to acquiring medical equipment and a predisposition for violence to hurt people of color.
It is people of color who suffer disproportionately from COVID-19 and are most likely to be struck down in the street as they exercise their right to protest.
There is a racial bias highlighted by both the pandemic and the violent reaction to the protests.
The Trump administration seeks to uphold a white hegemony at the cost of Black and brown lives, either by killing them for exercising their right to protest or letting them die of disease.
Now, more than ever, we can see the mechanisms that are keeping such a corrupt system in place.
