ABSTRACT
As state and local governments are scrambling to assist their communities during this disaster, the COVID-19 pandemic as a disaster risk to populations has a social dimension that must be understand in order to reduce risk. The reality of the COVID-19 pandemic among the U.S. population unearthed the deep-rooted and unsurprising inequities in the health care system by exposing the unequal distribution of COVID-19 risk. This chapter describes how racialized inequities, inherent in the U.S. health care system, have influenced the COVID-19 disaster risk and outcomes. We use Bonilla-Silva’s framework of racialized systems to provide some explanation for the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community. We use the National Disaster Recovery Framework and the National Response Framework to guide our discussion on the COVID-19 disaster recovery process for the Black population. We provoke a call to service for public health professionals to develop a social justice and health equity approach to public health in order to promote successful COVID-19 pandemic disaster recovery.
