Black population and covid-19

Intersections between necropolitics and pandemic in Brazil

Abstract

The present work aims to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on the black Brazilian population. In the theoretical framework, reflections are presented on the developments of racism in Brazil, the history of the Brazilian black population and access to public policies, and on the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts on that population, also making a brief analysis of the management the health crisis caused by President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and the way in which necropolitics and the exercise of biopower were established in the country. Data collection was carried out through documentary research, using as sources digital documents such as ebooks, essays, scientific articles, reports from reliable news sites and blogs, bulletins and dossiers issued by official bodies that deal with the topic studied. According to the data collected and analyzed, some segments of the population faced the health crisis under different conditions, such as the black population. In a country structured based on racism and slavery, this population lived in conditions of inequality - compared to the white population - even before the pandemic, a situation that was worsened during this period. Linked to this, to the detriment of socioeconomic conditions, this group already had pre-existing health conditions, which made them a risk group for Covid-19. In Brazil, the Covid-19 pandemic found ideal conditions to spread more widely among the black population. Through a denialist government, with inefficient management and necropolitics, the health crisis was linked to a political, economic and social crisis, culminating in a humanitarian crisis.