Here is my abstract and introductory paragraph for my CP. Download the full file below!

Abstract

In the backdrop of a global pandemic, the structural and systematic disparities that disadvantage Black Americans are made increasingly clear. While a virus is unable to hand select which population it impacts, COVID-19 has shown itself to disproportionately affect black populations. How can the pandemic be blind when it is shown that black workers in healthcare as well as the black population within the United States are affected disproportionately? How is it that more of the black population is facing the symptoms of the virus, that more black health care workers have faced death when compared to others? The answer lies in the systems within America that place African American citizens at a large disadvantage. Inequity and inequalities through racism already persist in the black community; the impact of the pandemic serves only to magnify said issues as it causes the most harm to those of lower socioeconomic classes.

Intertwined: Black Americans, Racism, and Healthcare aims to warn against blindly trusting the narrative around America’s healthcare system by revealing the racism rooted in both its present and past. Its goal is to understand why the black population is so vulnerable and identify why the pandemic today has a heavy, negative impact on the black community. This project hopes that, by revealing the disparities, action will be taken to reduce them.

Intertwined: Black Americans, Racism, and Healthcare

The day is May 16, 1997. Several individuals are crowded in a white room with tall windows framed by golden curtains. The room is sparsely decorated save for a Steinway grand piano dating back from 1938 and several paintings by Gilbert Stuart that have situated the walls since the 1800s. The individuals within the room are either journalists or reporters, representing large news companies spanning from CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times. In front of flashing lights and cameras is a man standing at a podium. By his side are eight men, most of which are situated on wheelchairs; all of which are visibly elderly. Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States prepares to give an apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, authorized under the American government. Amidst the murmur of hundreds of curious individuals, he begins. “Ladies and gentlemen…” (Clinton).