COVID-19 is Out of Proportion in African Americans. This Will Come as No Surprise…

As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, it is clear that the disease is affecting African American populations disproportionately. For example, in our home state of Alabama, African Americans comprise 37.5% of laboratory-confirmed cases and 47.4% of deaths, despite only being 26.8% of the population, according to publicly available statistics on April 21, 2020. In Louisiana, 56.25% of COVID-related deaths were among Blacks, even though only 32.7% of the population is black. In Michigan, while 14.1% of the population is black, 33% of COVID-19 cases are among Blacks and African Americans, as are 40% of the deaths.