Despite the majority of U.S. adults as a whole for measures such as mask orders, public health experts said the divided views among racial groups reflected not only the unequal impact of the pandemic on people of color but also the apathy of some white Americans. Black Americans (63%) and Hispanics (68%) continue to be more likely than white Americans (45%) to say they are at least somewhat concerned about themselves or a family member infected with COVID-19 , according to an April. poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Throughout the pandemic, black and Hispanic communities experienced higher rates of illness and death than COVID, said Amelia Burke-Garcia, director of the public health program at NORC. These experiences have led to higher levels of stress, anxiety and awareness of the dangers of COVID-19 infection, he said, meaning that people of color are more likely to feel the need for measures such as mask commands. “We have seen these trends withstand the whole pandemic,” Burke-Garcia said. “What we are seeing now as mitigation measures are being withdrawn is that there is still a great deal of concern between Black Americans and Hispanics about the risk of getting sick.” Seventy-one percent of black Americans say they prefer the face mask requirement for people traveling by plane, train or other public transportation. That’s more than 52% of white Americans who support masked travel orders. 29% of white Americans are against it. Among Hispanics, 59% are in favor and 20% are against. The poll was conducted before a federal judge ruled in favor of the government ordering a mask for travelers. In Indiana, the Tuwanna Plant said it saw fewer and fewer people wearing masks in public, although it said it was diligent to always wear a mask. Plant, who is Black, said she sees people treating the pandemic as if it were over and wants the mask to continue. Plant, a 46-year-old sous chef, said she had some concerns about getting the vaccine and took all other precautions, such as cleansing and masking to avoid getting sick, but was recently treated for COVID-19. The experience scared her – she has a pre-existing lung condition and knew family members who died of COVID-19. He said he plans to get vaccinated as soon as possible. “I called my kids while I was in the emergency room,” Plant said. “I did not know if it was going to get better or worse, I did not know. So it was an experience for me as a whole. “ Dr Celine Gauder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist and editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News, said people’s experiences deeply shape the way they perceive the pandemic. Jokes and personal experience can have a greater impact on behavior than numbers, he said, and people of color are more likely to have had negative experiences with health care before and during the pandemic. While new drugs and vaccines have made it easier to treat COVID-19, Gounder said many people still face systemic barriers to accessing this medical care. Others risk losing their jobs or not being able to get leave if they get sick, he said, or not being able to avoid things like public transportation to reduce their exposure. “When people argue that they do not need to be covered on the plane, it means something very different for someone who has access to all these new innovations than for someone who does not have health insurance, who is struggling to care for an elderly parent and their children, who may be a single mother working in a job where she does not have a sick leave and a paid family medical leave, “said Gooder. “It’s just a completely different calculation.” In January, an AP-NORC poll found that black and Hispanic Americans were more likely than white Americans to feel that certain things would be necessary to bring them back to life without feeling the risk of infection. For example, 76% of black Americans and 55% of Hispanics said it was necessary for most people to wear face masks regularly in public indoors to get back to normal, compared with 38% of white Americans. Last month, an AP-NORC poll found that black and Hispanic Americans, 69% and 49%, were 35% more likely than white Americans, 35%, to say that they always or often wear a face mask around others. Lower support for masked commands and other precautions among white Americans may also reflect less sensitivity to what is happening in colored communities. In a 2021 study on mask use during the early pandemic period, researchers found that mask use among whites increased when whites died at a higher rate in the surrounding community. When blacks and Hispanics died, mask use was lower. Berkeley Franz, co-author of the paper, said that in addition to the domestic segregation that separates whites from colored communities, previous research has shown that whites may show ambivalence about policies that they believe primarily help people of color. “The fight against blackness is really pervasive and has huge consequences, both in terms of policies that are approved and those that are not,” Franz said. “White people can still have really racist actions without seeing themselves that way and understanding the consequences. It’s far below the surface and unintentional, but it has huge implications for equality. ” Colored communities also have a different perception of pandemic risk than their white counterparts, said Michael Nino, a sociology professor at the University of Arkansas who wrote a paper on race, gender and pandemic coverage. “The mask is something that is relatively cheap, it is effective and it is something that can be done easily,” he said. “It does not require any kind of government response. “These broader stories of racism and sexism in the United States certainly set some of the patterns we see.”
The AP-NORC survey of 1,085 adults was conducted April 14-18 using a sample from the NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel based on probabilities, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The sampling error margin for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Ma covers training and equality for the AP Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter: Fingerhut, author of AP polls, is based in Washington. The Associated Press reports on racial and ethnic issues are partly supported by the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
