COVID-19 and climate change: Crises of structural racism

Over the past year, as the United States raced and stumbled to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis hummed and roared. In September 2020, we saw Californians don face coverings against the backdrop of a burning orange sky. Masks that were to provide protection against SARS-CoV-2, also blocked out the smog from a historic wildfire season. In February 2021, we watched as countless Texans were left homeless from an unseasonal freeze and inadequate infrastructure. With pipes blown, electricity lost, and houses flooded, a disproportionate number of families of color were forced to cram into emergency shelters with minimal social distancing. As these crises converged and even contributed to each other, a much older crisis reemerged: structural racism and the policy stagnation that refuses to address it. And, so we asked, what are the obligations of our healthcare community lying at the epicenter of such crises?