L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

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Webinar Identifies COVID-19’s Equity Problem

African Americans and people in lower socioeconomic groups are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to speakers on a coronavirus webinar hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University and the American Society for Public Administration.
African Americans and people in lower socioeconomic groups are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to speakers on a coronavirus webinar hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University and the American Society for Public Administration.

Higher rates of infection and death among African Americans demonstrate the racial character of inequality in America, according to a panel hosted by the VCU Wilder School and the American Society for Public Administration on April 16.

"Acceptable Losses? COVID-19: Social Equity and the African American Community,” was the first in a four-part series of coronavirus response webinars to be moderated by Wilder School Dean Susan Gooden in the coming weeks. Gooden was joined by Curtis Brown, chief deputy state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emegency Management and co-founder of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management, and William Spriggs, chief economist to the AFL-CIO and a professor in the Department of Economics at Howard University.

Read more about the panel discussion, including which states have fared best in reducing the barriers to prevention and response.