NAACP, BET Talk Coronavirus in Virtual Town Hall with Speaker Pelosi and Other Congressional Leaders

As the coronavirus doubles down on pre-existing conditions and other factors disproportionately affecting Black America, the NAACP and BET hosted a virtual town hall Wednesday evening featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, and Congressional Black Caucus president, Congresswoman Karen Bass to discuss financial assistance for the “underbanked”, the need for more testing, and safeguarding the voting process.

“As we know, this virus has been an assault on the lives of African Americans and is connected to disparities that existed before and made it even worse for the African American community,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Steve Munchin requested an additional $250-billion package to offset financial challenges. In response, she moved to earmark part of that funding for small businesses without “long-term relationships with banks”.

Pelosi stated, “We came back and said, ‘We can do this if you are willing to put a big chunk of that money into the underbanked community.’”

According to the Speaker, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, and others are working with her to secure the $60 billion and added, “We have to fight for that or otherwise it will be business as usual.”

Congress has passed three pieces of legislation to address the devastating economic disruption created by the social containment measures implemented to control the coronavirus outbreak. With more than 10 million Americans filing unemployment claims, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn emphasized the extension of unemployment insurance from 24 weeks to 33 weeks provided in the recent stimulus package and an additional $600 per week.

“Our Republican friends didn’t want us to do that. Their efforts failed,” the South Carolina Congressman said.

Clyburn also pointed out funding for churches.

He said, “I want everybody to know we have made it possible for churches to receive the same assistance as small businesses.”

Expanded Testing

Dr. Oliver T. Brooks, President of the National Medical Association addressed the need to continue observing social distancing guidelines and vigorous hand washing. Brooks and the Congressional leaders also shared their concerns about the Centers for Disease Control’s lack of racial data related to the coronavirus. But, statistics collected by health experts indicate the coronavirus is disproportionately claiming the lives of Black Americans.

“We want a racial profile of how this coronavirus is affecting so many people…” Pelosi said.

Brooks said, “Remember when the country gets a cold, African Americans get the flu. It’s ironic and appropriate at this time.”

Mississippi Congressman Benny Thompson added, “They refuse to provide that data that would identify the most impacted.” And, he called for Black America to speak out. “Raising hell will get you something, sitting back hoping won’t get it done.”

For Congresswoman Bass, focused testing and faster testing are imperative.

“The negative impacts on us are profound,” she emphasized.

The Pandemic and the Presidential Election

With the presidential election coming into clearer focus today after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination making former Vice-President Joe Biden the presumptive nominee, concern about implementing measures to ensure voter participation in November gained urgency.

Clyburn said state governments can use part of the funding from the federal government to expand online voting efforts and voter registration. There is also a push for voting by mail.

“We’ve got to be able to have that as part of the process,” he said.

The national conversation about voting during the coronavirus outbreak and its implications for a fair and valid election is heating up after Tuesday’s primary in Milwaukee’s produced long lines and fewer polling sites due to a shortage of workers willing to risk exposure to the virus.

The town hall lasted an hour. Another virtual town hall meeting host by the NAACP and BET is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15. For more information, visit www.naacp.org.