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New poll measures African-American response to COVID-19

26th May 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

The African-American Research Collaborative recently released a poll in collaboration with the NAACP and Yale School of Medicine’s Equity Research and Innovation Center highlighting African-Americans’ fears, thoughts and concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The poll was conducted from May 1-7. Of the 604 African Americans from across the country who participated in the poll, 75 percent responded online and 25 percent responded via phone call. Henry Fernandez, co-founder and principal of the African-American Research Collaborative, said this made sure to include the voices of people who did not have Internet access. The poll’s margin of error was +/- 3.9.

According to the poll, many African Americans are facing economic hardships due to the pandemic. Thirty-six percent of participants lost a job or had a cut in their work hours. Thirty-one percent said they did not have enough food or grocery money. Twenty-eight percent said they had trouble paying their rent or mortgage. Fifteen percent said they lost health insurance through an employer.

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said the pandemic exacerbated existing economic inequalities for African Americans. Johnson pointed to African Americans having higher unemployment rates than the national average as well as skyrocketing student debt.

“The current economic picture will not improve until there is a targeted effort to address the wealth gap,” Johnson said.

Despite these economic concerns, 80 percent of respondents said businesses should not reopen until safety can be assured for workers and customers.

Survey participants had varying opinions about the government response to the pandemic. In general, approval was higher for local officials than federal ones. Sixty-three percent and 62 percent had positive feelings about their mayors and governors, respectively. But 80 percent had negative feelings about President Donald Trump’s leadership. Fifty-nine percent had negative feelings about the federal government’s handling of the crisis.

Johnson called the president’s response “anemic” and added, “It (the pandemic) requires a coordinated federal response, not a state-by-state response.”

The poll asked people to rate the trustworthiness of prominent leaders and spokespeople on a ten-point scale (10 being most trustworthy). Doctors and nurses ranked highest with a score of 7.85 while President Trump ranked the lowest with a score of 3.05. Black elected officials received a score of 6.96.

Tracey Meares, the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor at Yale University and the founding director of The Justice Collaboratory, said trust is important because the spread of the virus cannot be stopped without the cooperation of the public.

“People are more likely to follow rules when they trust authority,” Meares said. “It’s important for people to voluntarily comply with social distancing.”

Regarding social distancing guidelines, African Americans of all age groups largely felt comfortable wearing a mask in public. However, younger age groups (18 to 34 and 35 to 49) were more likely to say they were afraid to wear a mask in public because they feared being seen as a threat. Twenty-four percent of the 18-34 demographic and 26 percent of the 35-49 demographic felt this way, compared to 15 percent for ages 50-64 and 12 percent for ages 65 and older.

Marcella Nunez-Smith, director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center at the Yale School of Medicine, said there are other unique challenges faced by African Americans regarding safety. Many cannot afford to live alone or in single homes. Many rely on public transit. Many cannot get tested for COVID-19 if the testing station is drive-thru only.

“Physical distancing is not a privilege available to everyone,” Nunez-Smith said.

Even though many citizens have concerns about in-person voting in November’s presidential election (a lawsuit was filed this month by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund on behalf of Louisiana voters), poll participants indicated they will likely vote. Eighty percent said they would probably vote and only nine percent said they probably will not vote. Forty-eight percent of registered voters surveyed said they were more excited to vote in 2020 than they were in 2016. In 2016, only 20 percent said they were more excited to vote in that election than the 2012 one. Only 14 percent said they would be less likely to vote this year due to COVID-19.

Seventy-five percent of respondents said they would vote for likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Eleven percent said they would vote for President Trump. Twelve percent said they were undecided and the rest refused to answer.

Fernandez said that while Biden’s support among African Americans is good, he will need closer to 90 percent support to win in November.

“African-Americans are much more committed to voting in 2020,” Fernandez said. “But Joe Biden clearly still has some work to do. He has the time to do so, though.”

To see the full list of poll questions and responses, visit www.Afri-canAmericanResearch.us.

This article originally published in the May 25, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.

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