ABSTRACT
The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 across racial and socioeconomic lines in the United States underscores long-standing disaster impact inequities that parallel those following weather-related disasters. Disaster response is primarily a local government responsibility with conditional assistance provided by the state and federal government when local capabilities are overwhelmed. Although much is known about the relationship of social vulnerability to disaster, far less is known about how local governments have used research findings to incorporate social equity considerations within their emergency management plans. This chapter provides historical vignettes of the influence race has had on the field of emergency management, an overview of emergency management and public health coordination during the pandemic, a discussion on COVID-19 fatalities and concurrent social vulnerability factors, and, finally, a document analysis of local governments incorporation of race and social equity considerations within their emergency management plans. Through a purposive sampling method, local governments selected for analysis represent the largest African American, Hispanic, or Native American populated counties within the ten states with the highest COVID-19 death rates. Our findings show that emergency planning documents are not all race elusive, but there is broad variance in application. Additionally, the incorporation of social vulnerability assessments of older adults and those with disabilities has widespread integration but fewer mentions of the challenges faced by renters and low-income residents. Emergency management agencies vary in size and capacity that competitively disadvantage less-resourced communities. Federal policy intervention with a targeted universalism approach has the potential to systematically lift the standards and capacities of local emergency management operations through universal goals and with tailored strategies for minoritized communities that have historically been disenfranchised by the apparatus of local emergency management.
