“Inequality is magnified in times of national hardship. Perhaps nowhere is this clearer than in communities of color, which have long endured inequalities across American economic, social, and civic systems. Persistent segregation has restricted tens of millions of people of color to some of the most densely populated urban areas in the country; structural and environmental racism has produced extraordinarily high rates of serious chronic health conditions among people of color; and entrenched barriers in the health system continue to prevent people of color from obtaining the care they need. Now, these same factors threaten to exacerbate the current national hardship: a potentially deadly coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, that has infected tens of thousands of Americans and could affect millions more.”

Read more about this major public health crisis and its potential impacts on existing health inequities here.