On March 11, when the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 epidemic a pandemic, the reclassification was widely seen as an acknowledgement of the outbreak’s geographic reach. A new narrative emerged on the internet. Covid-19 is “the great equaliser”: it hurts the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, and everyone in between. The message even found place in a speech by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and a monologue delivered by Madonna from a rose-filled bathtub.
In the past few weeks, though, reports from around the world have quashed the idea. Covid-19 is not the great equaliser. It’s true nobody is immune to it, but it’s also true that some communities suffer more because of it.
In the US, the pandemic is killing Black and Latino Americans at “disproportionately high rates”. In the UK, BAME groups – Black, Asian and minority ethnic – have been hit the hardest. And in India, although its spread has not proven to be race or class specific, its collateral impact has certainly been class-based and racialised. A sea of migrants walked out of cities towards their hometowns after a lockdown was imposed in March. Muslims are being blamed by Hindutva supporters for the spread of the virus, based on deeply biased reporting on religious gatherings. And...
from Scroll.in https://ift.tt/2Vz3A8w
No comments:
Post a Comment