The idea that Jerome Adams could not say something that is a terrific insult to people of color because he is Black belies the power of internalized racism. Look at the white doll/black doll test videos and tell me that Black people do not internalize negative stereotypes.

The true horror of racism is that Black people not only have to fight white supremacists, they have to fight the cultural biases that are drilled into them in school, in church, from books, art, music, films, and television. The white supremacist message suffuses society

And that gives us the respectability politics of Jerome Adams who obviously thinks people of color are just held back by drugs and alcohol and the reason COVID is killing Black people in multiples of white people can be found in their behavior, not in health inequities

He ignores that poc are more likely to work in the essential industries of food production and service that put them at risk of contracting COVID. That long-term health care disparities have produced greater comorbidities, & that healthcare providers provide disparate care