Nicole Cardoza Nicole Cardoza Nicole Cardoza Nicole Cardoza

Support the disability community through COVID-19.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court met to determine whether or not the Affordable Care Act should be invalidated. And although we can’t expect a decision anytime soon, early conversations indicate that the Affordable Care Act is likely to stay, which should protect the coverage of millions of people in the months ahead (NPR). The ACA supports tens of millions of people in the U.S. but particularly provides access to coverage for people with disabilities that might not be able to receive it otherwise (KFF).

But the concept of mutual aid is much more deeply rooted than the simple act of Venmo-ing $15 to a stranger on Twitter.

Happy Wednesday, and welcome back! Thank you to our veterans – today and every day. As COVID-19 cases skyrocket, it's critically important that we center the needs of the disability community, particularly those that are also people of color. Today we're joined by disability advocate and non-profit founder Ola Ojewumi to learn how we can support.

This is the Anti-Racism Daily, a daily newsletter with tangible ways to dismantle racism and white supremacy. You can support our work by making a one-time contribution on our website or PayPal, or giving monthly on Patreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). To subscribe, go to antiracismdaily.com.

Nicole

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GET EDUCATED

Yesterday, the Supreme Court met to determine whether or not the Affordable Care Act should be invalidated. And although we can’t expect a decision anytime soon, early conversations indicate that the Affordable Care Act is likely to stay, which should protect the coverage of millions of people in the months ahead (NPR). The ACA supports tens of millions of people in the U.S. but particularly provides access to coverage for people with disabilities that might not be able to receive it otherwise (KFF).
 

But even with the Affordable Care Act, significant disparities exist for people with disabilities in healthcare, especially those that identify as people of color and/or LGBTQIA+ (Disability Scoop). Also, our nation is in the midst of another severe outbreak of COVID-19 (NYTimes). This not only directly impacts the health of some people with disabilities that can make them at higher risk. It also can create complications with broader medical care – and disrupts everyday life. 


What’s more, people experiencing long-term complications from COVID-19 – referred to as long-haulers – are joining the disability community (STAT News). And although new vaccine trial data is promising, the rollout does not prioritize people with disabilities (NYTimes). We must do more to protect people with disabilities during this pandemic.


I interviewed Ola Ojewumi, an activist, journalist, and community organizer, on the intersection of COVID-19 and disability advocacy. 

How do you see COVID-19 impacting healthcare moving forward, particularly for people with disabilities?

The healthcare system pre-COVID-19 has mistreated people with disabilities, and I don't foresee much of a future change. People with intellectual disabilities die at higher rates of COVID-19. This reflects a culture that doesn't see value in disabled life, let alone saving disabled lives. (Read more about this in an article from The Atlantic). It is extremely challenging navigating the medical system as a person with a disability. We tend to have more medical comorbidities that exacerbate COVID-19. These include obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and we're more likely to smoke.

Income inequality and lack of access to quality healthcare are major problems amongst people with disabilities and marginalized groups. The COVID-19 crisis proved that the healthcare system wasn't equipped to handle a major medical crisis. It was built to meet the needs of those that can afford healthcare. 


 

How do you think COVID-19 will continue to exacerbate these disparities? 

The healthcare and hospital systems were already ill-equipped to handle a crisis, but none of this magnitude. Doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers were already overworked and exhausted. The pandemic will only exacerbate unconscious bias and medical racism (learn more by reading the investigation of Michael Hickson’s death on NPR). The quest for a vaccine is marred with complaints that not enough people of color were not included in testing. Vaccines cannot be effective in patients of color unless they’re included.

A pediatric drug commonly used to treat children with asthma, Albuterol, was proven ineffective in Black children. This was because no Black children were included in the clinical trials (NPR). I used to take that drug. This is what racial bias in medicine looks like. Racism doesn't have to be intentional or hateful. It comes in forms as innocent as failing to include non-white children in clinical trials. (Read more about the importance of representation in vaccine trials in our previous newsletter).


 

Many people have noted how President Trump and his administration’s stance on COVID-19 aren’t just dismissive, but ableist. How is that harmful? What is its impact on communities with disabilities?

President Trump's rhetoric is more than just harmful. It's outright dangerous and puts the lives of people with disabilities at further risk. He encourages not wearing masks despite being infectious and having [had] COVID-19 himself. This may influence his supporters to view COVID-19 as something minor.  It's not because it's killed over 200,000 people. A big chunk of those people were disabled. We are more susceptible to catching COVID-19 due to numerous factors like compromised immune systems and poverty.

His commentary will undoubtedly influence his base, amongst others, to take fewer precautions to prevent this disease's spread. Disabled Americans are most at risk, and the leader of the free world has told us, "Don't be scared of it" (NBC News).  How can we not be terrified when it's taken so many of our lives and that of our loved ones?  We have every right to be terrified with such poor leadership at the top. Trump continues to downplay the virus as the death toll continues to rise, and we lose more people due to a preventable pandemic. We deserve better and must demand better.

 

What do you wish people with privilege would do to address systemic inequities in healthcare?

If you see racist behavior, report it. We need people with the privilege to find the courage to call it out instead of remaining silent. Advocate for diversity and inclusion in healthcare systems. Support programs that invest in the education of Black physicians and healthcare workers. Plan an unconscious bias training. There is no limit to what you can do to weed out bias and save countless lives.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • COVID-19 disproportionately impacts the disability community, particularly those that also have mother marginalized identities

  • COVID-19 is exacerbating medial bias and making people in the disability community fearful of finding adequate medical care

  • With COVID-19 cases rising in the U.S. and around the world, we need to center the needs of the disability community in our response

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Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.

Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza

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Bianca Gonzalez Nicole Cardoza Bianca Gonzalez Nicole Cardoza

Fight racist death row sentencing.

Pervis Payne, a Black man who was convicted for murder 33 years ago, will be executed in December, despite DNA evidence that could prove his innocence (CNN). While the execution of an intellectually disabled person is unconstitutional, the court didn’t recognize Payne’s disability at the time of his trial (Tennessean). The Innocence Project, a legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, is trying to stop Payne’s execution. As of today, “375 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 21 who served time on death row” (The Innocence Project).

Welcome back! It's Thursday and there's 5 days until the U.S. election. Please vote and encourage others to do the same.

And please rally for Pervis Payne. Bianca joins us today to outline his case and the racial disparities of death row sentencing. Payne has been fighting for his innocence for the past 33 years. We can take ten minutes to advocate on his behalf.

ps – this is the Anti-Racism Daily, where we send one email each day to dismantle white supremacy. You can support our work by giving one-time or monthly on Patreon (you can also support via PayPal or Venmo @nicoleacardoza). If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe at antiracismdaily.com.

TAKE ACTION

  • Sign the petition to stop the execution until the DNA has been tested.

  • Spread awareness about Pervis Payne’s case by sharing his story on social media.

  • Look at statistics on Death Row sentencing by race across the country and by state using this tool. Consider how race plays a factor in this data.

GET EDUCATED

By Bianca Gonzalez (she/her)

Pervis Payne, a Black man who was convicted for murder 33 years ago, will be executed in December, despite DNA evidence that could prove his innocence (CNN). While the execution of an intellectually disabled person is unconstitutional, the court didn’t recognize Payne’s disability at the time of his trial (Tennessean). The Innocence Project, a legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, is trying to stop Payne’s execution. As of today, “375 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 21 who served time on death row” (The Innocence Project). 

In 1987, Payne’s girlfriend’s neighbor and her daughter were fatally stabbed in Tennessee; the neighbor’s son was also stabbed but survived his injuries (The Washington Post). Later that day, Payne was arrested and charged with their murders and in February 1988, Payne was sentenced to be executed on December 3rd, 2020 (Commercial Appeal). For more details of Payne’s case, read The Innocence Project’s outline of his case here. 

The police focused on Payne in their investigation rather than following other leads in the case, such as the victim’s abusive ex-husband or another man spotted leaving the building around the time of the murder (Innocence Project). Prosecutors argued that Payne committed the murders after being rejected for sex while on drugs, but Payne had no history of drug use, no criminal record, and was widely known as a kind person. In a complaint, Payne’s attorney, Kelley Henry, notes that Payne “was convicted after the prosecution played upon racial fears and stereotypes about Black men taking drugs and looking for white women to sexually assault” (Innocence Project). Prosecutors referred to Payne’s “dark hand” versus the victim’s “white skin” (Tennessean). 

Racism plays a clear role in many of the convictions of Black defendants. 57% of the U.S. prison population consists of Black and Latinx prisoners, despite the Black and Latinx demographic only comprising 29% of the total U.S. population (The Sentencing Project). Innocent Black people are about seven times more likely to be convicted of murder than their innocent white counterparts (National Registry of Exonerations). 

Moreover, Payne’s trial took place in Shelby County, Tennessee, a political and cultural climate in which the public had regularly executed innocent Black people. Shelby County is one of the 25 American counties with the highest rate of lynchings between 1877 and 1950 (Lynching in America). Lynching is a form of vigilante “justice” performed by civilians instead of the judicial system, where the mobs of people, who were usually white, would gather to torture and kill those accused of crimes, who were usually Black (NAACP). Racial stereotyping has been used to justify the lynching of Black Americans for centuries (Lynching in America).

Additionally, it is unconstitutional to execute someone with an intellectual disability (Legal Information Institute). While Payne’s disability wasn’t legally recognized at the time of his conviction, he wasn’t able to fully participate in his own case (Innocence Project). Dr. Martell, who was the expert opinion in the Atkins v. Virginia case and hundreds of other cases, concluded that Payne had an intellectual disability (Innocence Project). He found that Payne’s reading, math, and memory skills are all less than the bottom 5th percentile for his age. He had impaired language functioning and was unable to finish high school, despite working hard and never having disciplinary problems. Payne’s attorney filed a complaint to prevent Tennessee from carrying out his execution until the court considers his claim that as an intellectually disabled person, his execution would be unconstitutional (Innocence Project).

On September 16, 2020, the Shelby County Criminal Court ordered DNA testing of crime scene evidence that hadn’t previously been tested in Pervis Payne’s case. Although this could prove his innocence, his execution is still scheduled for December 3rd, 2020 (Innocence Project). Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich previously opposed DNA testing in the case. The court’s opposition in Payne’s case reflects their previous treatment of death row cases with innocence claims. In 2006, Sedley Alley was executed after being denied DNA testing of evidence believed to belong to the perpetrator (Innocence Project). His daughter fought for DNA testing to posthumously prove her father’s innocence but was denied in 2019 (New York Times). Both Pervis Payne and Sedley Alley could potentially be added to the list of the 172 death-row prisoners who were exonerated of the charges justifying their execution, 90 of whom were Black (Death Penalty Information Center).

It should never be controversial to include DNA evidence in any case with an innocence claim, especially when the American criminal justice system convicts racial minorities more harshly than their white counterparts. We need to fight to ensure Payne’s execution does not take place until after DNA evidence in his case, as well as his intellectual disability claim, are taken into consideration.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • DNA testing could prove the innocence of those wrongfully convicted decades ago- but some court systems are standing in the way.

  • Black people on trial have always been disproportionately subjected to capital punishment in America, both in the form of “vigilante justice” and through the American court system. 

  • Innocent Black people are about seven times more likely to be convicted of murder than innocent white people (National Registry of Exonerations).

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.

Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza

Read More