The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted how the toxic stress of racism, coupled with staggering health inequities, harms socially marginalized individuals, families and communities while undermining beneficial public health practices before, during and after crises. According to the CDC (2022), social stigma is discrimination against an identifiable group of people, a place, or a nation. Stigma is associated with a lack of knowledge about how an illness or disease spreads, a need to blame someone, fears about disease and death, and gossip that spreads rumors and myths.

Public health emergencies, are stressful times for people and communities. Fear and anxiety about a disease can lead to social stigma, which is negative attitudes and beliefs toward people, places, or things. Stigma can lead to labeling, stereotyping, discrimination, and other negative behaviors toward others.

The COVID-19 pandemic It wasn’t the first time that America’s most vulnerable populations were blamed for creating or contributing to a national health care emergency.

HIV and MERs are just two other examples where stigmatization of people living on society’s margins led to counterproductive distrust and resistance to taking actions needed to stay healthy and combat a public-health catastrophe.

However, communities are able to conquer social stigma through efforts that seek to reduce unintentional harms of public health surveillance, endear community connectedness, promote social organizing that works collaboratively with public health institutions, and the identification of adaptive means of coping in order to reduce stress, minimize trauma, and remain resilient – particularly when crises seemingly never end.