COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) is killing Black Americans at a rate two to three times higher than that of White Americans.  Higher rates of comorbidity factors among Black Americans have often been cited as an explanation for this phenomenon. Is this the entire story? Are Black Americans simply less healthy and therefore dying? In this article, we will see that a closer look behind that data suggests a more complex, systemic cause of the deaths in our communities.  

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Unfortunately, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted racial minority groups, especially Black and Latino individuals (Hooper). An example of this can be seen in Louisiana, where 70.6 percent of hospitalized patients who died from COVID-19 were Black, but the county in which this hospital is located is only 31 percent Black (Price-Haywood). Another study found that although 20 percent of U.S. counties are predominantly Black, those counties account for 58 percent of national COVID-19 deaths (Gregorio). These data point to a racial disparity in the number of deaths from COVID-19. This disparity is not genetic, but rather systemic. No data have found that race inherently impacts the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 (Price-Haywood). 

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If rates of contracting COVID-19 are not directly correlated with race, then why is COVID-19 disproportionately impacting minority racial groups? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), race is correlated with several systemic factors that affect how people who contract COVID-19 are treated: discrimination, healthcare access, occupation, socioeconomic gaps, educational gaps, and housing. Discrimination and racism can lead to chronic stress, which decreases health. This can often be seen in Black Americans (Lei). Racial minority groups are more likely to be uninsured, which limits access to healthcare (Berchick). Racial minority groups disproportionately work in essential jobs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Thus, they are more likely to be exposed to COVID-19 while working. Socioeconomic and educational gaps can be barriers for college entrance, which leads to less stable jobs and less stable housing (Annie E. Casey Foundation). Housing conditions can increase risk of contracting COVID-19 because poorer socioeconomic conditions may lead to multiple generations living together and crowded living situations.

Together, these systemic reasons may contribute to the higher rates of COVID-19 comorbidity factors of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or chronic lung disease, which result in more severe outcomes of COVID-19 (Price-Haywood). Thus, Black Americans are suffering more from the COVID-19 pandemic than White Americans, not because of their race, but because of systemic factors that leave them more susceptible to the virus. 

 

COVID-19 has brought into the spotlight systemic issues that have long existed but have been ignored. The lack of equal access to health care, socioeconomic gaps, educational gaps, crowded housing, and discrimination have left millions of Black Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities susceptible to the most severe outcomes of COVID-19. These societal issues are now translating into deaths of loved ones. This bald fact must serve as a rallying cry to fix the glaring systemic racism that has left so many vulnerable.