Those Who Don’t Support the COVID Vaccine Don’t Support Black Lives Matter
Where's their outrage over 73,462 Black deaths from COVID?
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Last summer up to 26 million Americans marched in the streets in support of Black Lives Matter, specifically police brutality toward African Americans. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor put faces to a violent practice in law enforcement that has taken hundreds of innocent Black lives. America was outraged. They’d had enough. It was one of the proudest moments in American history.
Which is why it is so disappointing to me that many of the same people who took to the streets a year ago to protest racism are okay with standing by and letting it take hundreds of Black lives every day. The principle is the same: systemic racism encouraged and allowed police to target Black people with excessive, sometimes fatal violence. And systemic racism is allowing COVID-19 to kill a disproportionate number of Blacks.
According to the COVID Race Tracker, at least 73,462 Blacks have died in the U.S. from COVID-19. The CDC reports that Black people are 2.8 times more likely to become hospitalized by the virus and 2 times more likely to die from the disease compared to Whites and Non-Hispanics.
To put it simply, if COVID was a racist cop choking out a Black person on the street, would you lift your voice in protest? Or would you say, “It’s his choice. He didn’t have to leave his home to go for a jog or grocery shop.”
LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives the ball against Robert Covington #33 of the Houston Rockets during the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
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If Black lives matter, then they matter all year around and in every situation. Seeing a grandmother die in a hospital bed may not be as dramatic as watching a cop choke a man to death, but it is no less tragic. No less racist. And no less preventable.
To hear athletes and celebrities complain about vaccines or fail to enthusiastically endorse them makes us wonder just how much Black Lives Matter when its faceless thousands of Blacks dying.
Thank you Kareem for bringing up this tragedy. Too many lives have been lost. Is there a way that you can inspire black leaders to go into the black communities and encourage the people to get vaccinated? You have a powerful voice. There are so many who still distrust the government and any vaccines because of past history. Or normal ordinary citizens who have been vaccinated could have meetings within the black communities to encourage vaccinations. I'm not sure what the answer is, but the word needs to be published. Rev Al, President Obama, yourself. Speak to the truth. You are greatly appreciated.
Some of those (in the NBA especially) who don't support the COVID vaccine series should sit and talk with Karl-Anthony Towns who lost his mother early-on in the pandemic. My heart goes out to him and his family.