Structural racism, social risk factors, and Covid-19 — A dangerous convergence for Black Americans

Current protests throughout the United States are highlighting the history of marginalization of and discrimination against Black Americans, including 250 years of slavery, 100 years of Jim Crow laws, high rates of incarceration, and unanswered calls for action after police shootings of unarmed Black Americans. Simultaneously, disparities in Covid-19 infections and deaths are laying bare the underlying structural racism that protestors seek to disrupt.