The Color of COVID-19: Structural Racism and the Disproportionate Impact of the Pandemic on Older Black and Latinx Adults.
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2021-02
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Abstract
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The aim of this evidence-based theoretically informed article was to provide an overview of how and why the COVID-19 outbreak is particularly detrimental for the health of older Black and Latinx adults.Methods
We draw upon current events, academic literature, and numerous data sources to illustrate how biopsychosocial factors place older adults at higher risk for COVID-19 relative to younger adults, and how structural racism magnifies these risks for black and Latinx adults across the life course.Results
We identify 3 proximate mechanisms through which structural racism operates as a fundamental cause of racial/ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 burden among older adults: (a) risk of exposure, (b) weathering processes, and (c) health care access and quality.Discussion
While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis, the racial/ethnic health inequalities among older adults it has exposed are longstanding and deeply rooted in structural racism within American society. This knowledge presents both challenges and opportunities for researchers and policymakers as they seek to address the needs of older adults. It is imperative that federal, state, and local governments collect and release comprehensive data on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race/ethnicity and age to better gauge the impact of the outbreak across minority communities. We conclude with a discussion of incremental steps to be taken to lessen the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 among older Black and Latinx adults, as well as the need for transformative actions that address structural racism in order to achieve population health equity.Type
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Garcia, Marc A, Patricia A Homan, Catherine García and Tyson H Brown (2021). The Color of COVID-19: Structural Racism and the Disproportionate Impact of the Pandemic on Older Black and Latinx Adults. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 76(3). pp. e75–e80. 10.1093/geronb/gbaa114 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23231.
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Tyson Brown
Tyson H. Brown is Professor of Sociology and Medicine at Duke University. A medical sociologist, race scholar, and population health scientist, his work integrates innovative theoretical frameworks with advanced data science and statistical methods to investigate the causes and consequences of racial inequality (see personal website).
Dr. Brown’s research has led to high-impact publications in top journals across sociology, demography, gerontology, population health, and health policy (CV). His scholarly contributions have been recognized with awards from the American Sociological Association and Duke University, and his work has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations with scholars nationwide, including through engagements with the National Academies. He has held appointments as a resident fellow at Oxford University and as the inaugural Duke Presidential Fellow. His research and training have been supported by competitive grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
Professor Brown’s current program of research focuses on the scientific study of structural racism as a fundamental cause of health inequality. By developing theoretically-informed, innovative and rigorous methods for quantifying structural racism—across economic, educational, political, housing, and criminal-legal domains—and its effects on population health, his research provides empirical evidence on why racialized health inequities exist. Moreover, by mapping the geography of structural racism, his work identifies where racially discriminatory contexts are particularly severe and pernicious.
Brown is actively engaged in service at both the university and national levels. At Duke, he has served on the Academic Council—Duke’s faculty senate—and on its Executive Committee, contributing to faculty governance and university-wide strategic planning. Nationally, he has held leadership roles in prominent professional organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Population Association of America and on the editorial boards of leading scholarly journals. In addition to institutional service, Professor Brown is deeply committed to mentorship. He works closely with Duke students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career scholars, including through programs supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that aim to strengthen the pipeline of future social scientists.
Representative Publications:
Brown Tyson H, Patricia Homan and Victor Ray. 2025. "Advancing the Scientific Study of Structural Racism: Concepts, Measures, and Methods." Annual Review of Sociology 51:24.1-24.23 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-090924-021305
Brown, Tyson H., Hedwig E. Lee, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Margaret T. Hicken, and Patricia Homan. 2025. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Systemic Racism.” Annual Review of Public Health 46:28.1–28.22. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-060222-032022
Research Agenda for Increasing Economic and Social Mobility in the United States. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. (co-author).
Brown, Tyson H. and Patricia Homan. 2024. “Structural Racism and Health Stratification: Connecting Theory to Measurement.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146523122292
Brown, Tyson H., Taylor W. Hargrove, Patricia A. Homan and Daniel E. Adkins. 2023. “Racialized Health Inequities: Quantifying Socioeconomic and Stress Pathways Using Moderated Mediation.” Demography, 60(3): 675-705. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-10740718
Brown, Tyson H. and Patricia Homan. 2023. “The Future of Social Determinants of Health: Looking Upstream to Structural Drivers.” Milbank Quarterly, 101(S1): 36-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12641
Brown, Tyson H., Christina Kamis and Patricia Homan. 2022. “Empirical Evidence on Structural Racism as a Driver of Racial Inequalities in COVID-19 Mortality.” Frontiers in Public Health. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1007053
Homan, Patricia A. and Tyson H. Brown. 2022. “Sick and Tired of Being Excluded: Structural Racism in Disenfranchisement as a Threat to Population Health.” Health Affairs, 41(2): 219-227.
Hardeman, Rachel, Patricia Homan, Tongtan Chantarat, Brigette Davis and Tyson Brown. 2022. “We Can’t Change What We Don’t Measure: Improving Measurement of Structural Racism for Antiracist Health Policy Research.” Health Affairs, 41(2): 179-186.
Brown, Tyson H. 2018. “Racial Stratification, Immigration, and Health Inequality: A Life Course-Intersectional Approach.” Social Forces, 96(4):1507-1540.
Brown, Tyson H., Liana J. Richardson, Taylor W. Hargrove and Courtney S. Thomas. 2016. “Using Multiple-Hierarchy Stratification Approaches to Understand Health Inequalities: The Intersecting Consequences of Race, Gender, SES and Age.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 57(2):200-222.
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