Biden on Blacks Disproportionately Dying of Covid19: ‘Institutional Racism at the Root of this Injustice’

RUSH EXCERPT:

SHARPTON: "Blacks are dying three to four times the percentage of the population. We’ve seen the health disparities across the board and this Coronavirus has brought clegg lights on this. The president expressed some concern when it raised at a briefing, but we’ve not seen any kind of specific action to deal with the racial disparities here. If you were president, who you would you directly deal with the fact that blacks are being tested and a higher percentage of them being found positive and dying at a high are rate, that you would focus in on what is the problem racially here?"
BIDEN: "Well, look, rev, I think I’m the first one to call this to the attention nationally saying that there’s evidence coming out of Michigan and Detroit and other areas showing that African-American communities, if you live in an overwhelmingly black county versus a white county, you are three times more likely to get the disease and five to six more times more likely to die from the disease. The first and foremost, we have to keep meticulous records on everyone who passes, everyone who in fact is found to have the Covid-19 virus. And so that’s number one. Number two, why is this happening? I suspect we’re going to find a lot of things. We have to make sure there’s equal distribution of resources and testing and medical equipment in all communities we got to make sure our economic recovery is equitable, make sure the people in fact in communities where there’s significant need are getting the help. And the institutional racism at the root of this injustice, I’m hopeful that what this crisis is going to do is rip the blinders off us in the nation to take action together. This virus is magnifying systemic inequities. Low-income communities, people of color are more likely to be hard hit, less likely to have insurance and access to testing, et cetera. And it has to be figured out. It has to be dealt with. People with asthma that have a higher rate of fatality and getting this disease in the first place. I said from the start, look, I am running to restore the soul of the nation and these injustices make just how clear it is. Look who is making all — not all but the vast majority of the sacrifices, the people who aren’t making a lot of money, the First Responders who can’t stay home, people who are still in the grocery stores making sure the food is stacked and getting things out, the people who, in fact, are not able to walk away. And I don’t know how many nurses that are African-American and doctors that are African-American and all doctors and nurses are risking their lives and losing their lives in this process. Many states are starting to release data as well as the CDC and it shows a disproportionate of numbers of blacks dying. Minority counties have three types the rate of infection, six times the rate of death of majority white counties. That’s the fact. We have to focus our researches on the most vulnerable populations. And we have to have equitable distribution of resources."