Bay Area

COVID-19’s Unequal Toll on Black Americans: A Q&A With Tina Sacks

Published

6 years ago

April 16, 2020

The recently-released data are shocking: COVID-19 is infecting and killing black people at an alarmingly high rate. An Associated Press analysis — one of the first attempts to examine the racial disparities of COVID-19 cases and deaths nationwide — has found that, of nearly 3,300 of the 13,000 deaths so far, about 42% of the deceased were African American. Black Americans account for about 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the AP analysis.
Other minority groups’ cases and deaths are fairly in line with their demographics, the analysis found, although among Hispanic individuals, there are some hot spots.

Black residents have been hardest hit in several U.S. cities, including New York City, Milwaukee and New Orleans. In another, Chicago, the city’s public health agency reported this week that African Americans accounted for 72% of deaths from COVID-19 complications and 52% of positive tests for the coronavirus, despite making up only 30% of the city’s population.

Tina Sacks

This week, Berkeley News spoke about this issue with Tina Sacks, an assistant professor in the School of Social Welfare and faculty chair of the Center for Research on Social Change at the campus’s Institute for the Study of Societal Issues. Her areas of expertise include racial disparities in health and health care; race, class and gender; and the social safety net.
Before her arrival at Berkeley, she worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for nearly 10 years as special assistant to the CDC director during the first coronavirus outbreak — SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

Berkeley News: Data are beginning to surface that black Americans are suffering the brunt of the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in urban areas. What structural factors in our society are contributing to these alarming outcomes?

Tina Sacks: Unfortunately, the preliminary data that we are seeing is in keeping with what we might expect, given the underlying structural inequality in this country. First, black people have experienced decades of residential racial segregation, unlike any other ethno-racial group. This means that Black neighborhoods typically have fewer institutional anchors, such as grocery stores, good schools and safe places to walk outside and exercise. There is even a relationship, for example, between residential segregation and living in neighborhoods with fewer trees, which leads to poorer air quality.

Black people are disproportionately exposed to indoor and outdoor environmental toxins in their homes and neighborhoods. Black people are more likely to grow up in poverty, live in substandard housing, attend under-resourced schools and are more likely to end up in the carceral system. All of these things exact a terrible toll on black people’s health through the life course, making them more likely to have the chronic conditions — like diabetes, asthma and hypertension — that make them more vulnerable to COVID.

Black people are also more likely to be uninsured, making their access to care spotty. Plus, we know from my work and that of others scholars who research bias during the health care encounter that Black people’s health complaints are less likely to be taken seriously.

So, if someone does present in the emergency room, they may be turned away. Black people face challenges when they need to interface with the health care system, particularly when it is already taxed in the manner it is currently.

Lastly, Black people are concentrated in parts of the labor market where workers cannot stay home to shelter in place, which presumably brings them into contact with more people and ultimately increases their risk of acquiring COVID. This is true for other minorities in the U.S., as well. For example, Black people may be working retail jobs in the ‘essential services’ sector, like the Black woman I encountered at the CVS in downtown Berkeley. She told me she had traveled by bus for three hours to make it to her shift as a checkout clerk. The bus lines have been cut, so it took her even longer to make it to work. People are calling off work because they are afraid to come in. She said she was terrified to come in, but felt it was her responsibility, so she woke up at 5:30 a.m. to go to work wearing her mask and gloves. Black people are also concentrated in industries that do not have paid sick leave. All of these policy level issues disproportionately affect Black people and other people of color.

In addition to all this, Black people live in a society that chronically undervalues their lives and humanity. This really cannot be overstated as another determinant of human health and well-being. Living in a society like that takes a toll.

Why are urban living conditions especially dangerous for the transmission of COVID-19?

Although I haven’t seen data on this, I would speculate that living in densely-populated areas like New York City can speed transmission. We know certainly that in overcrowded institutional settings where Black people are over-represented, like jails and prisons, there is no possibility of social distancing. This is something that really needs to be discussed more. The NYT is reporting that Cook County Jail in Chicago has the largest number of cases with a known source in the U.S., 353.

What is access to COVID-19 testing and treatment like, for low-income African Americans and other low-income people of color?

Because Black people are less likely to be insured (as well as Latinx and poor people), their access to testing is necessarily going to be spotty. We’ve seen that famous people — who, of course, can be black or people of color — have had easier access to testing. In general, I would say that we know that everyone has had a hard time getting tested, but what is happening to Black people during the COVID crisis is akin to a saying in the Black community, ‘When white folks catch a cold, Black people get pneumonia.’ Crises affect the Black community much more profoundly. This is definitely the case for other communities of color. For example, Native people also bear a disproportionate disease burden and are deeply affected by COVID.

Is the nation, and are any cities across America, addressing these issues in a helpful way?

I have heard that some cities are making statements about (the situation), and acknowledging the issue is an important first step. But because the causes are so deeply embedded in the social system and in social policy, I think the solutions also need to be rooted there, but that will take a lot of time and political will.

In the meantime, cities like Chicago are taking steps to try to address the issue, including;

1) Mandating the reporting of the number of cases and deaths by race and ethnicity.

2) Setting up a public health rapid response team comprised of activists and public health experts to talk to people in the black, Latinx and immigrant communities.

3) Re-routing buses to the south and west sides to better enable social distancing on bus lines.

Addressing this will require short- and long-term interventions, and some of the most major ones are to finally address structural inequality — to provide reparations and to work toward a fully-developed safety net that includes health insurance and paid sick leave.

Gretchen Kell

UC Berkeley News - Media Relations

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Arts and Culture

Against All Odds: Mary Jackson’s Journey to NASA Engineer

Jackson’s life took a significant turn when she was offered the opportunity to work in a wind tunnel, a facility used to test the effects of air moving over aircraft structures. It was here that her passion for engineering truly took flight. However, there was a challenge: to become an engineer, she needed to take advanced courses that were only offered at a segregated high school.

Published

4 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Mary Jackson. Public domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

When we talk about breaking barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the name Mary Jackson deserves a place at the top of the list.

Jackson was born in 1921 in Hampton, Virginia, a place that would later become central to her groundbreaking work. From an early age, she showed a strong aptitude for math and science—subjects that, at the time, were not widely encouraged for African American women. But Jackson was not one to be limited by expectations. She earned degrees in mathematics and physical science from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), setting the foundation for a career that would change history.

Before joining NASA, Jackson worked as a teacher and later as a research mathematician at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that eventually became NASA. Like many African American women of her time, she began her career as a “human computer,” performing complex calculations by hand. It was in this environment that she worked alongside brilliant minds like Katherine Johnson, forming part of a powerful group of African American women whose calculations helped launch America into space.

Jackson did something truly remarkable. She petitioned the city of Hampton for permission to attend those classes. She didn’t accept “no” as an answer. And she won.

In 1958, Jackson became NASA’s first African American female engineer.

But Jackson’s impact didn’t stop there.

Later in her career, she chose to step away from her engineering position—not because she couldn’t continue, but because she wanted to make a difference. She moved into roles focused on equal opportunity, working to ensure that women and minorities had access to the same opportunities she fought so hard to get.

Jackson’s story gained wider recognition through the book and film Hidden Figures, which highlighted the contributions of African American women at NASA. But long before the spotlight found her, Jackson was doing the work—quietly, persistently, and brilliantly.

Jackson retired from Langley in 1985. Among her many honors were an Apollo Group Achievement Award and being named Langley’s Volunteer of the Year in 1976. She served as the chair of one of the center’s annual United Way campaigns and a member of the National Technical Association (the oldest African American technical organization in the United States).

She and her husband Levi had an open-door policy for young Langley recruits trying to gain their footing in a new town and a new career. A 1976 Langley Researcher profile might have done the best job capturing Mary’s spirit and character, calling her a “gentlelady, wife and mother, humanitarian and scientist.”

For Jackson, science and service went hand in hand.

She died on Feb. 11, 2005, at age 83, at a convalescent home in Hampton, Virginia.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

The Marin City Flea Market Is Back

The Marin City Flea Market returns on May 23, offering arts, crafts, vintage items, and collectibles. The market aims to uplift local vendors and celebrate cultural diversity.

Published

22 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Customers shopping in Marin City Flea Market. Photo courtesy of marincityflea.org.

By Godfrey Lee

After a long absence, Marin City will once again hold its flea market. The market will have its grand opening on Saturday, May 23, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church parking lot on 101 Donahue St. It will be held every fourth Saturday of the month

The market will be free to the public

There will be arts, crafts, vintage, collectibles, and other items on sale at the market. Interested vendors can contact info@marincityflea.org or text (415) 484-2984 for more information.

“The Marin City Flea Market’s mission is to uplift local vendors, celebrate cultural diversity, and provide an accessible community space where creativity, entrepreneurship, and connection can thrive,” says their website, marincityflea.org.

The flea market is sponsored and run by the Rotary Club of Marin City.

For more information, contact info@marincityflea.org. Or text to (415) 484-2984

Oakland Post

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Activism

The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft Speaks at National Probate Reform Coalition Meeting

Evangeline Byars and Carmella Carrington lead the STOPDEEDTHEFT.org movement, fighting rising deed and title fraud, which disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities nationwide.

Published

45 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Left to right: Evangeline Byars and Carmella Carrington are gaining nationwide attention with their STOPDEEDTHEFT.org movement.

Caption:

By Tanya Dennis

The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC) has learned that aside from rampant theft of properties occurring through probate court, deed theft extends even further with the support of banks, police, judges, attorneys and “the system” to steal Black and Brown properties.

Deed and title fraud are rising, with FBI data showing over 9,300 complaints and $173.6 million in losses in 2024 alone.

To that end, NPRC invited Evangeline Byars of The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft as their keynote speaker on May 7.

Deed theft victims reach out to Byars because she has a reputation of getting things done. Introduced to community organizing at Medgar Evers College in 2011, Byars was mentored by Harry Belafonte and gained further movement training in 2012-13 through his “Gathering for Justice.” Byars also trained with the Youth Brigade 32BJ, Union in 2012 where she learned to map, target, and execute actions.

With that knowledge as an advocacy worker, Byars ran for president of TWU Local 100 for transit workers. During challenges of the union and political changes in New York when unions no longer had friends in government, they organized.

In 2025, deed theft victims approached Byars and told their stories. Byars investigated, and discovered rampant, unrelenting theft of properties, primarily from Black and brown families, got involved and helped them with their fight, teaching them how to sustain their fight at the grassroots level while remaining politically independent. This independence gave them the ability to move without co promise.

Deed theft is the taking of someone’s deed through fraudulent mortgages or a stranger that accesses property records, prepares paperwork and files for an owner’s property. New York is a’ first notice’ state, which means whoever appears first on record is the designated deed holder.

Deed theft escalated between 2013-23, the outcome of the subprime market, when people faced mass foreclosure and short sales. By 2014 people, primary Black and Brown, were fighting for their property.

In California, title theft (deed fraud) is a fast-growing threat often targeting high-equity homes, vacant land, and rentals. As of 2024, California leads the nation in real estate fraud with over 1,583 cases costing roughly $24.8 million in losses in a single year, reflecting the state’s prime position for scammers due to high property values, the FBI reports.

Byars says, “Deed theft affects Black and Brown people: it is by design, leading to the erasure of people of color homeownership that is happening nationwide. In every big city across the United States, towns and municipalities, we are witnessing a mass exodus of Black and brown people. This theft cannot occur without judges, notaries and law enforcement, it is a syndicate of players working together for the removal of people by illegal ejectment or eviction.

The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft does court watch and constantly highlight the inequities in the court system.

Byars says, “This is a human rights crisis. Because of Wall Street and what New York signifies to the nation, know that no state is safe. Any person can come and create paper terrorism, slap forgery notes on homes; engage in illegal guardian procedures; initiate foreclosures; apply for fraudulent loan modifications; then there’s outright theft and forgery, just taking people’s homes. Believe me, it’s happening nationally and on the daily, These predators also target seniors over the age of 60 and women.”

The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft take direct actions against perpetrators and are working with the New York District Attorney to create an office dedicated to gighting deed theft.

“Two ways to protect your deed is to keep a note, never satisfy your mortgage, because the bank is the biggest gangster, but if you’re making a payment, it keeps them in check. Or put your home in a living trust, once you have a trust, it hides the owner’s name and protects the person from predators.”