Was Lockdown Racist

Bibliographic Data

ID22109489
AuthorsAlex Broadbent (0000-0001-5120-6584, Durham University), Pieter Streicher (Durham University)
Year2025
Volume12
Issue0
Publication date2025-04-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueErgo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2330-4014 • E-ISSN: 2330-4014
PublisherUniversity of Michigan Library (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3998/ergo.7431
OpenAlexW4409216725
LanguageEN
References cited29

This paper argues that lockdown was racist, where “lockdown” refers to a historically situated kind of regulatory response to the Covid-19 pandemic imposing significant restrictions on leaving the home and on activities outside it. We articulate a notion of negligent racism which is objective and does not require intent, and show that lockdown satisfies its definition. The effects of lockdown on Africa significantly disadvantaged its inhabitants relative to the inhabitants of at least some other regions. We show how this suffices to establish the general proposition that lockdown was negligently racist (not merely “sometimes” or “someplace”), given our definitions. We defend our conclusion against two objections: that lockdown was a (moral) necessity (one version of which is the idea that it was a necessary precaution); and that race is explanatorily irrelevant, meaning that to whatever extent our argument is successful, it succeeds merely in showing that lockdown was anti-poor and not that it was racist. Nothing remains to gainsay the conclusion that lockdown was racist

COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Psychology

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