Why do some black counties in Georgia have 20 times as many deaths as nearby white counties? What impact does voter suppression have on the healthcare provide to African Americans and high COVID19 death rates?
- “More than 1,000 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed the day Governor Kemp reopened Georgia” – The Hill
- “Black people represent 32% of the Georgia’s population, but are 83% of those hospitalized with COVID-19” – Business Insider
- “Voter suppression really may have made the difference for Republicans in Georgia” – Vox
How are these headlines related? We analyzed how voter suppression, poor healthcare and the high number of deaths in African American communities in Georgia were all inter-connected and enabled a small group to cling to power.
Connect the dots
Data on the racial composition of counties and the medical facilities including the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and ventilators for each was obtained from Living Atlas.
A report from the Georgia Department of Public Health provided the number of COVID19 cases and deaths per county. This information was combined with ArcGIS, a mapping tool.
The results are summarized into an easy to understand and share digital story bit.ly/deathinblackandwhite. We used StoryMaps, a free app to create this story with maps, news headlines, images and videos.
Highlights
- White counties have ample medical resources and fewer Coronavirus outbreaks as compared to black counties.
- Predominantly African American counties have many more positive COVID19 cases and far fewer hospital resources.
- Voter suppression has limited the political power of African Americans in Georgia and the investment made into black counties.
Innovation
DemLabs continuously tries new free and affordable solutions that could help progressive causes and campaigns. We converted the StoryMap into a GIF that plays automatically in a web browser with EZ-GIF, a free app. We converted the GIF into a video complete with a soundtrack using the free Lumen5 app and uploaded it to YouTube.
Take away
“The truth will set you free“. That’s hard when some people would rather hide it to stay in power.
When voters have no political clout and are prevented from voting, the price they pay is in blood. Use ArcGIS to expose the truth and encourage people to vote.  Learn more here.
Deepak
Co-Founder, DemLabs
