ABSTRACT
Blacks in the United States have historically been disproportionately negatively affected by major economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic is following past inequality trends with the added complications of a health crisis and the national racial reckoning that occurred in the summer of 2020. This chapter examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black workers and Black-owned businesses in Virginia during 2020. We find that Black workers in Virginia were disproportionately represented on the frontlines of the pandemic and experienced unemployment at a significantly higher rate than White workers. Black-owned businesses in Virginia were also more concentrated in heavily impacted industries. Our analysis of the CARES Act finds that policy solutions designed to mitigate negative impacts were not as accessible to black workers and businesses as they were to their white counterparts. Both the pandemic's impact and unequal policy implementation can be traced back to preexisting underlying structural racial inequities. We offer seven policy recommendations to move toward greater equity in economic stability and mobility going forward. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Elsie L. Harper-Anderson, Jay S. Albanese and Susan T. Gooden;individual chapters, the contributors.