Volume 15, Number 2, Summer 2020

COVID-19 Racial-Ethnic Disparities Should Not Be a Surprise: So What Next?

AUTHOR:

  • Charles Ellis, PhD CCC-SLP, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Communication Outcomes and Equity Laboratory, East Carolina University, East Carolina University Center for Health Disparities, Greenville, NC, USA

Many have heard the old saying that “when white folks catch a cold, black folks get pneumonia”. Although it is unclear who this classic saying should be attributed to, most know what it means and how it relates to COVID-19. On April 7, 2020 Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force stood before the nation and introduced some to the plight of African American health and the longstanding disparities that exist. For some this was breaking news. I was not in that number.

DOI:

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