Whites’ County-Level Racial Bias, COVID-19 Rates, and Racial Inequities in the United States

Abstract

Mounting evidence reveals considerable racial inequities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes in the United States (US). Area-level racial bias has been associated with multiple adverse health outcomes, but its association with COVID-19 is yet unexplored. Combining county-level data from Project Implicit on implicit and explicit anti-Black bias among non-Hispanic Whites, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, and The New York Times, we used adjusted linear regressions to estimate overall COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates through 01 July 2020, Black and White incidence rates through 28 May 2020, and Black–White incidence rate gaps on average area-level implicit and explicit racial bias. Across 2994 counties, the average COVID-19 mortality rate (standard deviation) was 1.7/10,000 people (3.3) and average cumulative COVID-19 incidence rate was 52.1/10,000 (77.2). Higher racial bias was associated with higher overall mortality rates (per 1 standard deviation higher implicit bias b = 0.65/10,000 (95% confidence interval: 0.39, 0.91); explicit bias b = 0.49/10,000 (0.27, 0.70)) and higher overall incidence (implicit bias b = 8.42/10,000 (4.64, 12.20); explicit bias b = 8.83/10,000 (5.32, 12.35)). In 957 counties with race-specific data, higher racial bias predicted higher White and Black incidence rates, and larger Black–White incidence rate gaps. Anti-Black bias among Whites predicts worse COVID-19 outcomes and greater inequities. Area-level interventions may ameliorate health inequities.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Years of Potential Life Lost Attributable to COVID-19 in the United States: An Analysis of 45 States and the District of Columbia

“…Racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes associated with COVID-19 in the U.S. have been the subject of widespread concern and societal discourse. Characterizing racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 outcomes is an active area of scientific research [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], and quantifying racial/ethnic disparities in the COVID-19 mortality burden has been a particular area of focus. For example, the Color of Coronavirus project of the American Public Media Research Lab [ 32 ] tracks COVID-19 death counts by race/ethnicity in each state, providing analyses and extended commentary on mortality rates by race/ethnicity and comparisons between the percentage of total deaths and the percent population share by race/ethnicity.…”

Racial Disparities in Crime Victimization during the COVID-19 Lockdown

“…The research also demonstrates that the challenges faced by Blacks and Latinxs during the pandemic have a systemic nature and have taken root in the collective and long-lasting discrimination of minority communities in U.S. society (Ibrahimi et al, 2020 ). The data show that minority communities with high social vulnerability and structural racial biases experienced the highest rates of infection, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 (Gaynor & Wilson, 2020 ; Knight et al, 2021 ; Thomas et al, 2020 ).…”

Relationship between Built Environment and COVID-19 Dispersal Based on Age Stratification: A Case Study of Wuhan

“…Attention is also given to drug approaches to controlling the virus [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], the development of specific vaccines [ 12 , 13 ] and the allocation of medical resources [ 14 ]. Sociology focuses on people’s anxiety, depression and social inequality in the epidemic period [ 15 , 16 ]. Urban geography mainly studies the spatial–temporal distribution and evolution of the virus [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], the influence of urban spatial environment factors on the spread of the epidemic and the optimization strategy of urban spatial layout in the post-epidemic era [ 23 , 24 , 25 ] aiming to build an effective and defensible urban spatial system.…”