By Daniel Tan and Paulette Cha, Public Policy Institute of California, June 22, 2020
Many in California and across the nation are protesting the use of force against African Americans by law enforcement. Black Californians are also dying at disproportionately high rates due to complications arising from COVID-19. As immediate and alarming as these current inequities are, racial disparities in policing and health are among the many long-standing disparities across multiple dimensions that interact with and often reinforce one another.
The PPIC Statewide Survey finds that 30% of African Americans are very concerned about contracting COVID-19, compared to 18% of white Californians. This concern may be linked to high rates of employment in front-line essential jobs among black Californians. African Americans are also more likely to have underlying health conditions that increase risk of serious complications from COVID-19. This likelihood is driven in part by socioeconomic factors, including higher poverty rates and lower access to care.
Even after adjusting for age, sex, comorbidity, and income, African Americans appear to be much more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than whites are. Most ominously, though, African Americans who contract the virus are dying at disproportionately high rates—their share of COVID-19 deaths is about 1.5 times greater than their share of the state population.
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