COVID-19 and Mental Health: Comparing Mental Health Between African Americans & Whites in 2019 and 2020 (During COVID-19) in the U.S.

Although African Americans make up roughly 13 percent of the U.S. population, they account for one in three people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 and 3.7 times more likely to succumb to COVID-related deaths than Whites. The CDC reports that African Americans are dying at more than twice the rate of other races. For many reasons, African Americans are at an elevated risk of COVID-19 exposure and related hospitalization and death. The COVID-19 pandemic has further unveiled the distressful reality of racial disparity in the United States. African Americans are bearing a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. In many cities like Chicago, although African Americans are only 30% of the population, they make up more than 50% of COVID-19 cases and about 70% of COVID-19 deaths. COVID-19 health and economic consequences have a detrimental effect on mental health, particularly among African Americans. According to Kaiser Health News report, compared with the rest of the population, African American adults are 20% more likely to experience mental health issues. Systemic racism exacerbates the adverse impacts of social determinants of health, causing racial health disparities in African Americans. African Americans are more susceptible to contract COVID-19 due to systemic racism that historically carved out the type of work they are obliged to perform, including deliberate neighborhood and school segregation policies which currently explain their increased workplace and environmental exposure to COVID-19 infection. As a result, a greater proportion of African Americans now suffer from the stress, anxiety and depression engendered by COVID-19.