Question: Let’s talk about racism and coronavirus.
Answer: Racism is a public health crisis. As Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Dean MacKenzie and Professor Cooper wrote last night,
“…Law enforcement violence is a public health issue. It is just one dimension of racism as a present and deadly force in our society. As shocking as these high profile examples are, they represent the tip of the iceberg of persistent racial inequities that constitute a crisis for public health. African American babies die before their first birthday at more than twice the rate of white newborns. African American women die at more than twice the rate of other women during pregnancy and childbirth. African American adults suffer far higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, and other serious chronic illnesses. The life expectancy of African Americans is 3.5 years shorter than for white Americans. The roots of these and other mortal disparities run deep to the structural and institutional racism that shapes policing, housing, transportation, education, and health. The COVID-19 pandemic has reexposed the consequences of this legacy. With less secure housing, less stable access to food, greater reliance on crowded public transit, more low-wage work without adequate protection, and less access to health care, many predominantly African American communities are suffering staggering losses. African Americans are nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to others in the U.S. population.”
COVID-19 highlights and amplifies existing disparities resulting from ongoing systematic and institutional racism. Here are some data that show the stark racial divides in this country. Figure 1 is from the COVID Racial Data Tracker. It shows that Black people are dying at a much higher rate (nearly 2x) than would be expected. This finding is mirrored in recent research, which looked at county-level disparities in COVID cases and deaths, finding “significantly higher rates of COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths in disproportionately black counties compared to other counties.” Figure 2 was shared by CDC on Friday and presents hospitalization rates by race/ethnicity. As you can see, the age-adjusted hospitalization rates for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Non-Hispanic Black Americans are 4.5x higher than the rate of Non-Hispanic White Americans. The hospitalization rate of Hispanic Americans is 3.5x that of Non-Hispanic White Americans.
As scholar, writer, and Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, Ibram Kendi, wrote in The Atlantic last month,”…To explain the disparities in the mortality rate, too many politicians and commentators are noting that black people have more underlying medical conditions but, crucially, they’re not explaining why. Or they blame the choices made by black people, or poverty, or obesity — but not racism…. Black people are not to blame for racial disparities. Racism is to blame.” The solution? Actively being anti-racist and fighting for anti-racist policies at institutional and structural levels.
Figure 1. Black Americans are Dying at a Rate 2x higher than their Population Share.
Figure 2. COVID-19 hospitalization rates are 4.5x higher among American Indian, Alaska Native, and Non-Hispanic Black Americans as compared with Non-Hispanic White Americans.
