Local Responses to COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Community-based Organizations in Majority-Black Neighborhoods and Immigrant Enclaves, A Case Study of Atlanta, Georgia.

This paper will present a case study of local responses to the epidemic in immigrant enclaves and majority-black neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia. The COVID-19 health crisis presents an unprecedented challenge for many black and brown communities in the United States which may be particularly vulnerable to the contagion because of higher rates of certain pre-existing conditions like heart disease, lack of access to adequate healthcare services, and financial pressures to continue working despite increasingly risky conditions. In the American South where burgeoning ethnic enclaves, well-establish majority-black neighborhoods, and affluent suburbs exist side by side with vastly different healthcare concerns, disorganized governmental responses to the COVID-19 epidemic highlight the importance of efforts by CBOs (i.e. advocacy groups, neighborhood associations) to address the localized impacts of the virus. As an emerging immigrant gateway with a history of racial tension and inequality, Atlanta is a prime location to analyze the mediating role of community-based organizations in addressing health crises in communities of color in the New South. This study will examine CBOs in two prominent immigrant enclaves, Clarkston and the Buford Highway Corridor, as well as two majority-black localities, Stone Mountain and the city of Atlanta's West Side. My analysis of Atlanta CBOs' responses to the COVID crisis will focus on their efforts to disseminate public health information, provide resources and services addressing COVID externalities, and utilize social media platforms to engage with community members online.