It’s not about luck or genetics, experts said. It’s structural racism.
U.S. counties predominantly composed of white people have reported the fewest coronavirus cases, while diverse counties have been hit disproportionately harder by COVID-19, new research shows.
Researchers analyzed publicly available U.S. Census data and found that while 22% of counties have a predominantly Black population, those counties accounted for 47% of COVID-19 cases and 54% of deaths as of June. That racial disparity held true regardless of geographic region or political affiliation and was the same both before and after reopening the U.S. economy.
Counties that were more than 93% white reported the lowest rate of COVID-19 infections, at just 188 per 100,000 residents, compared with 914 per 100,000 residents in counties that were less than 60% white.
