Demographics of Coronavirus Pandemic in Delaware

Dear Governor Carney,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ), to express our gratitude for the leadership you are providing during this global pandemic. Your decisions regarding the closing of non-essential businesses, your clear and hopeful messages to the residents of Delaware allow us to have a level of confidence that through the consistent compliance of all, we will have a better chance of survival.

It is my hope that a crisis of such monumental scope will give us some insight into the necessary path forward for those we are obliged to support. The recent health crisis has made us aware of the most vulnerable individuals and communities in regards to this pandemic. The numbers of African American individuals in the states of New York, Illinois, and Louisiana, reminds us of the repetitive pattern of resource inequality and racial disparity. In many of our social systems, education, criminal justice, housing, employment, health, people of color are prominent in their presence in the most negative aspects of these systems.

The Mission of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice is “to Educate, Inform and Advocate for Racial Justice.” We have worked diligently in Sussex County, to share information about systemic and individual issues in the area of racial justice so that together, we can have a positive impact on changing the public narrative and establish a more loving and productive community for all. Most of our work during the past 5 years has focused on our education and criminal justice systems. We have been honored with presentations made at our monthly Town Hall meetings by leaders such as recently retired Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, Leo Strine, Attorney General, Kathleen Jennings, Chief Defender, Brendan O’Neil, local Police Chiefs, School District Superintendents, and so many others who “educate and informed” enthusiastic audiences.

While our number of Covid-19 cases and deaths are still small as compared to other states, I am asking that you send us demographic data, namely race and gender, on the current 1,116 cases in Delaware. This data will help to inform our work regarding Delaware’s health system and its response to the health needs of its minority citizens.,

If there is any way that the SDARJ can help in collecting this data, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Charlotte King, Chairperson
Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice