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What the pandemic taught America about racial injustice

Charles Spurlin gets his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from EMT Valeria Montes at St. Mark Baptist Church in Long Beach, Calif. The mobile vaccine clinic focused on Black seniors as one way to help address equity in the city's coronavirus inoculation program.
Charles Spurlin gets his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from EMT Valeria Montes at St. Mark Baptist Church in Long Beach, Calif. The mobile vaccine clinic focused on Black seniors as one way to help address equity in the city's coronavirus inoculation program. (Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)

It’s been one year since the global pandemic hit. Most Americans had no idea what was in store. The number of those impacted by COVID-19 is staggering. More than half a million American lives have been lost to the virus. And for people of color, the negative impact on their lives has been disproportionate — lost jobs, homes, health and lives.

Looking back, the pandemic has shined a light on just how deep the incisions are from structural and racial inequities. We turn to Shawn Fremstad of the Center for Economic and Policy Research to discuss the whys, the whats and how Biden administration policies are an attempt to right some of the wrongs and level the field.

Show Notes:

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