I've been a doctor for 20 years. My patients come from a variety of backgrounds. I can tell you from experience and from data that the ultimate cause of the high rate of covid disease and death in african americans is racism.

Yes, covid is worse in most people with diabetes, obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, and these diseases are prevalent in the AA population. But they are also hardly rare in the rest of the population. They are insufficient to explain the disparity in covid deaths, also

Many of these health problems also have as their ultimate cause racism through decreased access to appropriate care, a medical system that continues to breed mistrust and mistreatment.

So while many of the proximate causes of increased covid disease and mortality in AA's are common diseases, the ultimate cause is still systemic racism.

I'm telling you this because I keep hearing that the disparity is all due to lifestyle "choices" on the part of sick people. Please stop arguing from ignorance. If I hear one more person say, "well if they all just went to plant based diets and walked more" im gonna puke.