Black essential workers are the nation’s unsung heroes
By Jolie Graham
There are people amongst a crowd of people with masks on holding up posters and signs that are demanding justice for the black community. A community that constantly struggles with equality, health issues, and employment in America despite those who are working during the pandemic to keep people safe and healthy in hospitals and urgent care. Research conducted in June 2020 from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) states that the black unemployment rate is 16.7 percent, compared with a white unemployment rate of 14.2 percent.
Police are considered essential workers so, despite the pandemic, their job to assure the security of Americans still remains. A study from Gallup reported that 48 percent of Americans have lost their confidence in police officers, making this the first time that the ratings have fallen below 50 percent in almost 3 decades.
As social distancing became more pivotal than ever as many Americans are tired of stay-at-home orders and take-out options, there are people of color who would rather help those who are sick and in need of assistance during this pandemic
“It’s been difficult… Patients that have come in with hopes they would recover and we as [Black] nurses and medical team couldn’t save them,” stated by Martine Charpentier, a family friend and a registered nurse at LIJVS hospital in New York.
Charpentier is responsible for providing bedside care to patients who have COVID-19. She also has two teenage kids who live with her and a husband who has lost two siblings to the deadly disease. Despite all that she has been through, she continues.
“During the BLM, I have not faced any adversity,” Charpentier said. “I actually feel supported.”
While some Black essential workers are overwhelmed with support by those who advocate for BLM, others face a unique set of challenges as they brave the workforce amid a pandemic as well as racism during a time of heightened civil unrest. But that does not stop these African American essential workers. They continue to strive for the health of all Americans while positively representing the black community.
“I don’t even get treated like I’m an essential worker who is risking their life to protect the nation,” said Gaelle Jackson.
“I don’t even get treated like I’m an essential worker who is risking their life to protect the nation,” said Gaelle Jackson, who works at Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Jackson began to get emotional during her over-the-phone interview with the Courier as she spoke on the lack of appreciation she gets as a black and female essential worker. She expressed that being that her co-workers are mostly people of color, she had not received any disrespect from them but instead faced mistreatment from those who would come in to seek medical assistance.
Even when feeling unappreciated, she still continues to work long days through the week, barely getting enough sleep for her next shift. According to Axios, Black workers are more likely to hold essential or front-line jobs amid the pandemic than their Caucasian counterparts, partially accounting for the disproportionate number of COVID deaths within the black community.
Black workers are more likely to hold essential or front-line jobs amid the pandemic than their Caucasian counterparts.
Soraya Louis is a clerk at East Los Angeles hospital and shared an experience she had with a patient. She said the patient looked very ill yet impatient and sought immediate help despite the hospital’s waiting room filled with people. After he cursed out the staff, he was escorted out by a black security officer who he shouted at and called a “n*****”.
More professions qualify as essential in the U.S. like firefighters, postal workers and truck drivers.
Those who drive trucks for hours on end from state to state are responsible for many families’ ability to have heat throughout their house. Some trucks handle gas, oil, and other resources that are beneficial to the average family. Families must have the proper heat during flu season and with the pandemic, it’s crucial to keep your immune system up.
“I am fortunate because I work nights,” said Trevor Robinson who works for a Black-owned trucking company that has him drive as far as California to Denver to transport oil and gas. “But it does get to me as I drive and think about people like Breonna Taylor that were gone so soon.”
Grocery employees are essential as well and some stores employ workers as young as 15 years old. These people are there to make sure Americans have food in their house during this pandemic that requires you to stay home. But the one place everyone was at the beginning of the pandemic was the grocery stores.
“Taking it day by day, making sure to follow all safety procedures,” said Sierra Angol, a childhood friend, who started working at a grocery store called Key Food before COVID-19 in her hometown Rosedale, NY in Queens, the borough with the most cases out of the five.
She got to see the shift in her working style right before her eyes and had to respond quickly as the grocery store started to get more crowded and chaotic than ever.
“I haven’t encountered any harassment so far however, I do get more [White] people coming to me at work saying they do support the BLM movement and that they believe in what’s right,” Angol said.
While masks and keeping 6 feet between other people has been a challenge, the black community faces greater challenges as they feel the need to protect themselves and families from COVID but also crooked police who believe that getting rid of black people would result in peace in America.
If you choose to protest please keep your mask on, bring hand sanitizer and gloves if possible and try to stay 6 feet away from others in order to fight for equality and peace for the black community while keeping yourself safe and giving these essential workers fewer people to worry for.
