By Briasia Russ

A report by the National Urban League shows that Black Americans are more vulnerable to the pandemic due to higher unemployment rates, lower household incomes and lack of access to health care. “The New Normal: Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive” report also included racial inequities in health care, economics, public safety, and police brutality against Black people.  

According to the report, Black people are 6.5 times more likely to be stopped by police while driving, and 20 times more likely to be search during a stop than white people. 

 As reported by CNN, the president of the National Urban League Marc Morial stated that the country is at a “crossroads of racial reckoning.” 

“One path leads backward, toward the ‘old normal:’ a return to the marginalization, discrimination, and segregation that left Black and Brown Americans exceptionally vulnerable to a deadly virus and economic desperation,” Morial said.  

“The other path leads toward a nation where police approach the communities they serve as allies and collaborators, and not hostile combatants; where every citizen has equal access to the ballot box, where fatal complications in pregnancy are just as rare for Black mothers as for as white mothers, where the value of a home is not determined by the race of its owner.” 

Moral points out that equal rights shouldn’t be looked at as a limited resource. For example, equal doesn’t mean less for others. “To quote a flippant sentiment frequently shared on social media, equal rights for others does not mean less rights for you. It’s not pie,” Moral said.