ABSTRACT
The current pandemic has illuminated and exacerbated pre-existing social inequalities between Black and White Americans. Without improved pandemic policies, disparities in social conditions will continue. This chapter uses an intersectional empirical research design to analyze six waves of data from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) to investigate pandemic-related disparities between and within Black and White Americans throughout the 2021 summer COVID-19 Delta wave. Results indicate that Blacks are experiencing significantly more hardship compared with Whites, but intersections of race, gender, and education illustrate a more complicated picture. This chapter will conclude with an analysis of capitalism and its relationship to growing social inequality. Individual and macro-level pandemic policy solutions aimed at improving the social conditions and life chances among all individuals in the United States are discussed.
