Gone Viral: Blacks And Covid19

This evening I came across two articles that point toward what will no doubt become a major part of the story of this pandemic. Of course, this was part of what I was getting at in What They Don't Want You To Know. A few short excerpts will give an idea of what's involved.

The first article is Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Black Mistrust Of Medicine Looms:

"I felt it was a complete hoax," Peebles said. "This thing happens every two or four years. We have an outbreak of a disease that seems to put everybody in a panic." 

Peebles is among roughly 40 million black Americans deciding minute by minute whether to put their faith in government and the medical community during the coronavirus pandemic. ... 

... 

Some call such skepticism the "Tuskegee effect" — distrust linked to the U.S. government's once-secret study of black men in Alabama who were left untreated for syphilis. Black people already suffer disproportionately from chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease and are far more likely to be uninsured. 

...

"Now that this has been deemed a pandemic, I am most concerned with inequities in who's provided tests, who's provided treatment and how those tests and the treatments are administered, in a way that is open, transparent, and equitable," Johnson said. 

... 

Cities with large black populations like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee and New Orleans have emerged as hot spots for the coronavirus. Figures released by Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services show 40 percent of those who have died from COVID-19 are black in a state where African-Americans are just 14 percent of the population. 

And many Southern states with large black populations have been slow to mandate statewide restrictions shown to slow virus spread.  

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, black adults are 60 percent more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to be diagnosed with diabetes, 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure and are less likely to have those conditions under control. Additionally, in 2015, black women were 20 percent more likely to have asthma than non-Hispanic whites. 

... 

The Tuskegee legacy has helped pollute the black community's relationship with American medical science. A 2016 paper found the fallout included mistrust of medicine among black men, along with fewer interactions with doctors and higher mortality rates.

The second article, Early data shows African Americans have contracted and died of coronavirus at an alarming rate, is fairly long and quite a bit more tendentious. What follows is only a small part of it.

The coronavirus entered Milwaukee from a white, affluent suburb. Then it took root in the city’s black community and erupted. 

If you read the article you'll see that that's not strictly true. The early cases came from multiple directions to Milwaukee, not simply from one white suburb. But that's part of the point.

As public health officials watched cases rise in March, too many in the [Black] community shrugged off warnings. Rumors and conspiracy theories proliferated on social media, pushing the bogus idea that black people are somehow immune to the disease. And much of the initial focus was on international travel, so those who knew no one returning from Asia or Europe were quick to dismiss the risk. 

Then, when the shelter-in-place order came, there was a natural pushback among those who recalled other painful government restrictions — including segregation and mass incarceration — on where black people could walk and gather. 

Exactly how natural was this "pushback"? Was it fueled not just by history, but also by a years long campaign in the MSM that urged Blacks to blame the problems of their community on "white privilege"? Will Liberals step forward to accept some, any, responsibility?

“We’re like, ‘We have to wake people up,’” said Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik. 

As the disease spread at a higher rate in the black community, it made an even deeper cut. Environmental, economic and political factors have compounded for generations, putting black people at higher risk of chronic conditions that leave lungs weak and immune systems vulnerable: asthma, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. In Milwaukee, simply being black means your life expectancy is 14 years shorter, on average, than someone white. 

No mention of any role of diet or possible genetic factors?

As of Friday morning, African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County’s 945 cases and 81% of its 27 deaths in a county whose population is 26% black. Milwaukee is one of the few places in the United States that is tracking the racial breakdown of people who have been infected by the novel coronavirus, offering a glimpse at the disproportionate destruction it is inflicting on black communities nationwide. 

In Michigan, where the state’s population is 14% black, African Americans made up 35% of cases and 40% of deaths as of Friday morning. Detroit, where a majority of residents are black, has emerged as a hot spot with a high death toll. As has New Orleans. Louisiana has not published case breakdowns by race, but 40% of the state’s deaths have happened in Orleans Parish, where the majority of residents are black. 

Illinois and North Carolina are two of the few areas publishing statistics on COVID-19 cases by race, and their data shows a disproportionate number of African Americans were infected.

Am I wrong to assume that Dems will seize on this?