The Black Millennial Take on COVID-19: Why is the joke always on us?

Now that the hysteria around COVID-19 has somewhat subsided, we can now look back over the past 3 months with a bit of hindsight. By now we are all incredibly over-aware of COVID-19 and it’s reach. Yet, no more than 2 months ago, a large segment of the population thought that their specific sub-group was immune to the virus.

There were a number of reasons why some groups believed that they were not at risk of contracting COVID-19. Perhaps because COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, Asia, some groups speculated that the viral infection was inherent and confined to members of the Asian diasporic community. Here, I refer to Asian as a pan-ethnic group, because from what I observed, any person of Asian descent was at risk of being assumed to carry the virus. There is evidence of attacks on not only Chinese communities in the U.S., but also Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese communities, despite the virus originating in China.

Following the lead of their right-wing president (and USA Today), political conservatives have been cited coining the coronavirus the “China virus,” provoking greater animosity toward this ethnic group. The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Rice Thresher in the city well before the first case even turned up there.

Also, owing to early media coverage, many Millenials and Gen Z’s thought that only individuals with underlying medical conditions and the elderly were at risk of contracting the virus. Some folks even tapped the age-old fable of race as biology to suggest that children of the African diaspora were immune to the virus. 

As became clear by early April, COVID-19 was not exclusive to the Asian nor elderly and immunosuppressant community. In fact, reports emerged beginning mid-April evidencing that the virus was particularly prevalent in Black American and Latino communities. Sadly, for many of us, this news was not surprising. 

Of course racial disparities in health outcomes existed prior COVID-19. Black Americans have long experienced higher rates of chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and asthma–all conditions which coincidentally make them more vulnerable to viral diseases like COVID-19. Race and biology, however, are not the causes of these racial disparities in health outcomes. The major factors producing these inequalities are what sociologists call “socioeconomic” in nature, or the intersection of social and economic factors. Chronic conditions are not innate, they are the consequence of prolonged exposure to poor environmental conditions and poor health practices. Although some might be compelled to say that Black Americans choose to eat poorly, choice is complicated. Health knowledge and practices are passed down across generations, and while older generations may have lacked that education, we see healthy foods growing in popularity among Black millenials and Gen Z’s. Younger generations also have more access to healthy food options. Access and knowledge are key factors influencing how individuals practice healthy living. Access in terms of affordability and proximity, and knowledge in terms of exposure to information and education. Unfortunately, poorer neighborhoods are much slower to change. There remain neighborhoods all across the country without a single grocery store for miles. It’s hard for most of us to imagine that reality, but do not take your ability to get up and drive a few minutes to the grocery store for granted. 

Ultimately the impact of COVID-19 on the Black community was unsurprising, but it painted a stark contrast to the rumors circulating on social media early on. 

These rumors centered on the notion of Black/African American immunity to COVID-19. Videos surfaced across social media platforms of Black people around the world chanting, celebrating, and reveling in the excitement of finally being exempt from suffering. Rather than viewing this trend for what it was–hopeful delusion–it was framed as Black people taking the threat of the virus less seriously. 

However, I conducted 10 phone interviews throughout the month of April with young Black millennials within my network whose quarantine experience reflects a degree of seriousness not represented in mainstream media. While we cannot deny the reality that there are a select group of Black folks who have been seen participating in large-group events on social media, this is not representative of the larger group’s experience.

I’m sure many readers are thinking that I am preaching to the choir, but we also know that the trite expression “Black folks are not a monolith” exists for a reason. We are constantly put in positions to define and defend ourselves against stereotypes, so this isn’t new. 

I was motivated to conduct these interviews out of curiosity about the precautions that others were, or were not, taking. It is useful to contextualize your experience after all. I wondered, how seriously are other people taking this? The individuals interviewed live in different regions of the United States, four are in West Coast states, three reside in the south, 2 are in the midwest, and another is on the East Coast. Ultimately, their quarantine related-behavior reflects a high degree of seriousness, care, and consideration. 

Of the 10 respondents, 2 are essential workers and are working as usual, 2 are working from home, 2 have been furloughed with the plan of resuming work after quarantine (1 of whom is now working at CVS to compensate for the loss of income),  two are students, and the remaining two are currently unemployed due to COVID-19 related lay-offs. All respondents are Black-American/African American and between 25-40 years old. Two respondents are married, one of whom is a new parent and the other is expecting. Four respondents live with one or both parents, and thus, provided some insight into how the older generation is faring. 

Interview respondents were asked a series of questions pertaining to when they became aware of COVID-19; how conversations with family and friends regarding the virus have been; their impression of the Black immunity conspiracy; their health practices, including any preventative measures they are taking; how people within their networks are faring economically; and their perception of what the “new normal,” post-quarantine, will consist of. 

Although participants were doing their best to adjust to their new reality, they didn’t believe that they had enough time to prepare. Seven of the participants stated that they initially learned about COVID-19 between February and March. Only two stated that they knew about the virus as early as Novermber/December-they (one man and one woman) attributed their early knowledge of the virus to their consumption of a diverse array of news, including international news. Irrespective of when interviewees learned of the virus, none understood the potential gravity of the virus. 

While most respondents stated that they had learned of COVID-19 in early Spring, when the federal government began instituting bans on international travel from Europe and China, 2 had learned of the virus as early as November. J., a California woman in her late 20’s, for example, stated, 

“So the first time I heard about the virus was the end of November, beginning of December…I’m able to get channels from different parts of the world and one of the channels was in Canada and their news was talking about it. So I was like, hmm that’s interesting. Then months later, like January, that’s when our guy in office– cause I don’t like to call him the president and I don’t like to say his name–said that there was a travel ban to and from China. I’m like, okay, no big deal. Then March comes around and they’re still talking about the travel ban and things like that. I personally have been trying to be like, Oh no big deal, this is going to blow over like Ebola because of the whole election and they want to have some type of new virus to scare everyone…”

J. wasn’t alone in her assumption. Anecdotally, I have spoken to several people who strongly believed that early announcements of COVID-19 were the product of fear mongering tied to the upcoming election. Conspiracy theorists on Reddit have constructed theories about the relationship between past viral outbreaks and national elections. Although we do know that the U.S. loves its propaganda, we also know the U.S. doesn’t have the power to will the entire world to participate.  But still, we can’t say for certain whether the American government’s handling of COVID-19 has anything to do with the election. Though we could speculate. 

Although other respondents learned of COVID-19 as late as March, most found it difficult to process and to take very seriously even then. Their skepticism was partly due to reassurances from our administration following the travel ban. At that time attention was primarily focused on U.S. residents who had recently traveled to or from Wuhan, China and anyone they had physically interacted with. Press Releases suggested that a 14-day quarantine was mandated for those individuals, which they assured, would taper the spread of the virus. 

S., another California resident, discussed her lack of concern about the virus early on. Despite being very keen on health under normal circumstances, she stated that even when the first cases of the virus reached her region of California, she and her family weren’t too concerned. When asked how she was processing COVID-19 in early March she responded, 

“It still didn’t seem like such a big deal. I felt like it was kinda targeted still towards a specific group at that time. It was like people who had been in contact, or who had some connection to China recently. So yeah, [my family and I] weren’t talking about it really. It didn’t seem like a big concern. And also I think, I try not to be dramatic, I guess. It was kind of that at that point.”

None of the 10 respondents indicated that they took the threat of the virus very seriously in the beginning. After all, a mandated country-wide stay-at-home order is rather unprecedented. It would have been hard for anyone to anticipate that COVID-19 would evolve into a global pandemic, other than Bill Gates, that is. The American government’s early press releases, including President Trump’s tweets, gave no indication of the potential gravity of this situation.  

However, as reports of widespread mortality began to surface, respondents took notice and started taking the threat of the virus more seriously. When asked how they are protecting themselves, and others, against the virus, interviewees reported implementing strategies like minimizing outdoor travel, sanitizing more than usual, changing clothes before entering the house after being outdoors, relying on delivery services, etc. 

In April, at the time of the interviews (other than the 3 people going into work everyday) respondents  were actively avoiding having to leave the house. Of the 7 respondents not currently leaving the house for work, 3 were relying on delivery services for groceries, and others were keeping grocery store visits to a bare minimum, e.g. once every 2 weeks. Any venturing outside required a mask and gloves, and 2 respondents hadn’t been outside in 5 weeks–one of whom identifies as “immune-compromised.” 

Most interesting were the similarities in how respondents “clean up” when returning home from either work or a visit to the store. They discussed the routine of taking off their “outside clothes” either in the garage or as soon as they enter the house, before changing into their designated “house clothes.” C., a new father and essential worker, talked about his concern for his daughter, despite public attention primarily being centered on the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. He laughed before explaining that he advised his mother, who lives out of town, not to visit until after the stay-at-home order had been lifted, both for her benefit and her granddaughter’s. He was elated when his wife’s employer offered her the ability to work from home. This allowed them to avoid having to send their daughter to daycare, further reducing her risk of exposure to the virus. 

A., a woman in her late twenties with elderly parents, also explained that her family disinfects packages before opening them, and throws boxes away after removing mail. Like the other individuals interviewed, A. was not surprised to hear that Black Americans were experiencing higher rates of COVID-19 than other race/ethnic groups. In fact, not a single respondent was surprised. Some even expected it. S., a woman in her early 30’s living in Washington very poignantly detailed her thoughts on the impacts of the virus on the Black American population,  

“This virus is showing people what a lot of us already knew, which is that black people are some of the most vulnerable in this country. You know, and a lot of that has to do with pre-existing conditions that we already have high blood pressure, diabetes especially, and all of these elements that we already had that exacerbates this issue. Asthma, asthma for children. I’m surprised that the rates of COVID for black children aren’t extremely high. What worries me are false narratives that black folks like to hold onto sometimes…our little conspiracy theories that we like, like this 5g bullshit. I’ve been convincing so many people that is not fucking true. Like, even if it was true, let me give you this, even if they were putting up the cell towers or whatever, that the, what we see in coven is not the same as what we would see in like clustering cancer cases that would happen when you have like cell towers that go up.”

“So epidemiologists have been studying clustering and cell towers and, and contamination of water and things like that. It’s not the same physiology. So having to kind of like explain that to people like irritates me, because I feel like having these false narratives takes mental capacity away from focusing on what we need to be focusing on, which is COVID is highly contagious. We need the self-distance. Black people are at extreme risk because we are one of the most vulnerable populations. We have all of these different diseases that make this virus much, much worse. We need to be careful and we need to protect ourselves more so than anybody else. And we work in places where we could be exposed to this more so than anybody else–my stepdad is an essential worker. And so he’s exposed and he has a chronic disease. He has diabetes. So imagine that across the whole entire country, all the black people doing these different jobs, being highly exposed to this. It’s crazy. And the fucked up part is that we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re not going to do a single thing to make anything better for Black people. We’re just not.”

As you likely already know, representations of Black folks in mainstream media often help to perpetuate a very narrow narrative regarding our experience. Neither carelessness nor conspiracy are at the root of racial disparities in COVID-19. Ultimately, we have grown accustomed, and even numb, to the pattern of receiving the short end of the stick. Many members of the Black community are in economic circumstances that require that they continue to expose themselves to the virus, whether through work or interacting with others who are still working. It’s important that we do our best to hold one another accountable and share the wealth of knowledge. Also, share resources, even if it is just sharing your hand sanitizer with your neighbor in line or on public transit. We are only as strong as our weakest link, so do your best to help our where you can.