I
Coronavirus Hitting the Black Community Hard
f you have visited the Evanston Library and had the opportunity to meet him you knew Mustafa was a gentle giant. Mustafa Stanley Azeem passed away May 19th from a CoVID-19 related illness. He is described as a good man who was passionate about his people. He served the youth, his community, and Evanston Library with a black dignity. He was a graduate from ETHS and stayed in Evanston as an adult. His death though is symbolic of what the coronavirus is doing to the black community not only in Evanston, also in the US as a whole. The national death percentages for the black community averages 15%. In Chicago, African American covid cases average 30% of all cases and its predicted to rise based on summer projections. The black community is contracting the virus and dying from it at much higher rates than other ethnic groups. Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, D-Chicago, called on county officials to provide free COVID-19 testing and treatment to at-risk groups such as service workers who have to keep going out to work.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that the communities that have suffered through institutional racism and crisis for generations have certainly born the brunt of this disease,” Johnson said. “But we are very clear that this pandemic has certainly not only exposed the gross isolation of poverty in the city of Chicago and Cook County, but quite frankly the whole country.” Chicago is Evanston’s closest city. Therefore watching the infected numbers and interactions between Chicagoans and Evanstonians is imperitive. A recent interview with Chicagoan and national Comicview comedian Shawn Morgan has revealed that his family has seen 12 deaths due to Covid-19. 20
EvanstonMagazine.net
Why Is This Happening?
The answer is not so simple but the detailed observations will include poverty and lack of resources as its core. Sergirgation will be the tool used to create the divide. Since the inception of the city of Evanston has been an attractive place for hopeful and upwardly mobile African American families. Black families migrated to Evanston and changed the landscape in a great way. “A great way to map the location and progress of Evanston’s African American population is to note the location and number of Churches.” said, Dino Robinson. Robinson is the founder of Shorefront Legacy, a museum specializing in black history. Churches show progress in the black community (generalization) Evanston boasts a long list of historically high church numbers. The African American population primarily grew because the wealthy of Evanston needed Servants and paid well. The people of Evanston were then segregated into the neighborhoods marked by those churches. Race relations in Evanston were structured by a high degree of inequality that favored (and flattered) local whites and minimized conflict through patterns of paternalism and deference symbolized by the relationship of the domestic service. The policies that came out of the relationships in this system has historically oppressed the Black Evanstonian, thus leaving the less prepared to be exposed. Less heatlh care resources made it possible for a pandemic to effect the population most vulnerable our black community. Key members of the community have been exposed to the virus and some have passed on because of it. We want to keep you safe. To insure your safety direct all questions to 311.
