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Race/Related: Covid-19 and the Collapse of America’s Welfare State Race/Related: Covid-19 and the Collapse of America’s Welfare State
(3 days later)
[Race affects our lives in countless ways. To read provocative stories on race from The Times, sign up here for our weekly Race/Related newsletter.][Race affects our lives in countless ways. To read provocative stories on race from The Times, sign up here for our weekly Race/Related newsletter.]
Cloistered in my Brooklyn quarantine, I’ve probably been wondering about some of the same things you have: How come the United States only has 2.4 intensive care beds per 1,000 people, about one-third the number in South Korea? Why is American unemployment insurance so stingy? And critically, how can it be that one in 10 people in the richest country in the history of the world must face the worst epidemic in 100 years without access to health care? Cloistered in my Brooklyn quarantine, I’ve probably been wondering about some of the same things you have: How come the United States only has 2.4 acute care beds per 1,000 people, about one-third the number in South Korea? Why is American unemployment insurance so stingy? And critically, how can it be that one in 10 people in the richest country in the history of the world must face the worst epidemic in 100 years without access to health care?
The reason, in my view, is the same one that explains why the United States suffers the highest rate of infant mortality among advanced countries, why our poverty is higher and why our suicide rates are off the charts. In the United States, people are expected to survive on their own. Those who cannot, are often left to sink.The reason, in my view, is the same one that explains why the United States suffers the highest rate of infant mortality among advanced countries, why our poverty is higher and why our suicide rates are off the charts. In the United States, people are expected to survive on their own. Those who cannot, are often left to sink.
I just wrote a book about this. I called it “American Poison.”I just wrote a book about this. I called it “American Poison.”
In the book I argue that the reason behind America’s decision to let so many people keep sinking is because the people who are sinking are often black and brown. And that when white America — the part of America that has the most political power — has been asked to show empathy across racial lines, it has usually refused.In the book I argue that the reason behind America’s decision to let so many people keep sinking is because the people who are sinking are often black and brown. And that when white America — the part of America that has the most political power — has been asked to show empathy across racial lines, it has usually refused.
People of color were denied access to many of the benefits provided by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. If they had been given access, Southern Democrats wouldn’t have voted for it. When Lyndon B. Johnson opened America’s welfare state to African-Americans and other minorities 30 years later, the political consensus that had set America down the path of social democracy soon collapsed.People of color were denied access to many of the benefits provided by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. If they had been given access, Southern Democrats wouldn’t have voted for it. When Lyndon B. Johnson opened America’s welfare state to African-Americans and other minorities 30 years later, the political consensus that had set America down the path of social democracy soon collapsed.
If the safety net had to be shared with people of color, many white Americans decided they would rather not have one at all.If the safety net had to be shared with people of color, many white Americans decided they would rather not have one at all.
Since then, the public debate over welfare has been clouded by racist stereotypes about corrupt, undeserving “welfare queens” who take money from hardworking white taxpayers. The cruel irony is that the inability to extend empathy across racial lines has harmed white Americans, too. Much of white America, the part addled by opioids, ravaged by suicide, despairing of a future, is also a victim of this poisonous way of thinking.Since then, the public debate over welfare has been clouded by racist stereotypes about corrupt, undeserving “welfare queens” who take money from hardworking white taxpayers. The cruel irony is that the inability to extend empathy across racial lines has harmed white Americans, too. Much of white America, the part addled by opioids, ravaged by suicide, despairing of a future, is also a victim of this poisonous way of thinking.
Maybe the coronavirus outbreak will shock us into understanding just how much damage racial hostility — contempt, bigotry, mistrust, fear — has inflicted upon American society. Big crises, I’m told, often bring people together. But the challenge is hardly trivial. For starters, we must build an understanding of what it is to be American that includes everyone.Maybe the coronavirus outbreak will shock us into understanding just how much damage racial hostility — contempt, bigotry, mistrust, fear — has inflicted upon American society. Big crises, I’m told, often bring people together. But the challenge is hardly trivial. For starters, we must build an understanding of what it is to be American that includes everyone.
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