Pandemic and protest: young people at the forefront of US Pandemonium

Abstract

ABSTRACT The USA continues with the largest number of Covid-19 confirmed cases and associated deaths worldwide. It is clear that health, recreation, political and education systems will not be the same in a post-Covid context. It is also clear that there are ongoing devastating effects on the rights and well-being of children and young people. Systemic racial, economic and political inequalities that existed before the pandemic are highlighted in stark relief and widened as a result of its differential impact on lower income young people and their families. The protracted US protests over racial inequities and police violence against young African Americans is perhaps the most virulent example of youth push back. The essay looks at the crisis at three different scales: national, state, and local. It suggests a way forward for young people in local places.