In addition, with so many inmates, correctional officers and other prison staff testing positive for COVID-19 or dying from complications of the virus, state officials began freeing lower-level inmates and releasing them back into their communities. Sadly, most of those inmates were released without being tested. With their exposure being so high, they likely exposed the community at large to the disease. And we all know whose community is being affected disproportionately as a result — our Black community.
Black people already have unequal access to health care due to financial hardships, quality of available care in our neighborhoods and systematic racism. Not only are some of these inmates being released with no place to go, but by releasing sick individuals into our neighborhoods with a disease that spreads as quickly and easily as COVID-19 does, it is like handing down a death sentence to Black people nationwide.
As soon as the COVID-19 statistics began to show the disproportionate effect on people of color and our likelihood to contract and die from the virus, it seemed as if all efforts to thwart the pandemic let up. It was no longer really a problem for America, and it was time to reopen businesses. But naturally, the government chose to start with unessential businesses frequented by Black people where, due to the inherent nature of the business, social distancing would be next to impossible. It wouldn’t be the first time our government sanctioned the death of Black people. This time it could be done in a way that isn’t so obvious.
