Book Title: Race Wars: Disparity Politics During Covid-19
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the racial divide in our nation. The health outcomes of Black, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos as well as immigrants during this pandemic are by several measures on par with those of people in poor countries with much less sophisticated medical systems and technology. Though these health disparities are certainly worsened by poverty, they are not erased by income and education. The elevated rates of these serious illnesses have weaponized the coronavirus to catastrophic effects among Black, Latino, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and immigrants in America. While social media has been able to highlight these inequities by providing citizens with a platform, it has also provided space for hate speech and the spread of misinformation. Adding to an atypical situation, federal policy and dog whistling has led to more concern. The Trump administration has neglected to take an active lead to address the various inequities that have arisen because of the pandemic. Instead, they have chosen to politicize the pandemic and reframed it to something politically racial (i.e., the “Wuhan virus”, “Kung Fu Virus”). His claim that the “virus itself is political”[1] has turned the Covid crisis into a political tool that has highlighted racial and economic disparities among minorities while simultaneously launching racial and ethnic attacks throughout the United States. In addition, the role that elected officials, bureaucrats and activists play in policy making has led to the highlighting of additional hurdles such as the digital divide, affordable housing, and food security. This edited volume seeks research on the minority experiences with Covid-19. We are looking for papers/research that address the following:
Lack of Policy or conflicting policy to address Covid 19 at all levels of government (housing, internet access, food security)
Adverse effects of stay at home orders
Political Culture wars between parties
Discrimination
Inequality (racial and ethnic)
Elected Officials and dog whistling
Effects of minorities as essential workers
Disproportional effects/ Lack of testing in minority populations
Racism towards Asians, Blacks, Latinos, immigrants
Lack of data on minority deaths and spread
Lack of health care
Traditional and nontraditional media representation and coverage of minority communities and COVID-19