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VOLUME 99 - NUMBER 15
SMOpUTH L
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, APRIL18, 2020
TELEPHONE:919-682-2913 PRICE 50
Outcry over racial data grows
as virus slams black Americans;
Trump, Republicans Destroying Obamacare,
Medicaid Refusal Makes Matters Worse
(AP) As the coronavirus
tightens its grip across the
country, it is cutting a par
ticularly devastating swath
through an already vulner
able population - black
Americans.
Democratic lawmakers
and community leaders in
cities hard-hit by the pan
demic have been sounding
the alarm over what they
see as a disturbing trend
of the virus killing African
Americans at a higher rate,
along with a lack of overall
information about the race
of victims as the nation’s
death toll mounts.
Among the cities where
black residents have been
hard-hit: New York, De
troit, New Orleans, Chica
go and Milwaukee.
“Everywhere we look,
the coronavirus is devastat
ing our communities,” said
Derrick Johnson, president
and CEO of the NAACP.
Of the victims whose
demographic data was
publicly shared by offi
cials - nearly 3,300 of the
nation’s 13,000 deaths
thus far - about 42% were
black, according to an As
sociated Press analysis.
African Americans account
for roughly 21% of the to
tal population in the areas
covered by the analysis.
The AP’s analysis is one
of the first attempts to ex
amine the racial dispari
ties of COVID-19 cases
and deaths nationwide. It
involved examining more
than 4,450 deaths and
52,000 COVID-19 cases
from across the country, re
lying on the handful of state
and local governments that
have released victims’ race.
A history of systemic
racism and inequity in ac
cess to health care and
economic opportunity has
made many African Ameri
cans far more vulnerable
to the virus. Black adults
suffer from higher rates
of obesity, diabetes and
asthma, which make them
more susceptible, and also
are more likely to be un
insured. They also often
report that medical profes
sionals take their ailments
less seriously when they
seek treatment.
“The rate at which black
people are dying, compared
to whites, is really just as
tounding,” said Courtney
Cogburn, an associate pro
fessor at the Columbia Uni
versity School of Social
Work. “There are patterns
at this intersection of race
and socioeconomic status
that make it very clear this
is just not a story about
poverty.”
President Donald Trump
and the government’s top
infectious disease expert,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, ac
knowledged the higher
death rate among African
Americans during Tues
day’s (April 9) White
House briefing. The presi
dent called it a “tremendous
challenge,” and suggested
that federal health officials
could release national ra
cial and ethnic COVID-19
data within days.
For its analysis, the AP
made requests of COV
ID-19 racial breakdowns
in states, cities and coun
ties nationwide, ultimately
gathering data from eight
states, six major U.S. cit
ies, including New York
City and the District of Co
lumbia, and six of Florida’s
largest counties.
The data collected rang
es from New York to Il
linois to Alabama to San
Diego, and covers an area
that represents 82 million
Americans, nearly 43% of
whom are nonwhite. Other
(Continued On Page 2)
Earl Graves Sr. Courtesy Black Enterprise Website
Earl Graves Sr., founder
of Black Enterprise
magazine, dies at 85
NEW YORK (AP) - Earl
Graves Sr., who champi
oned black businesses as
the founder of the first Afri
can American-owned mag
azine focusing on black
entrepreneurs, has died. He
was 85.
Graves died April 6 after
a long battle with Alzheim
er’s disease, his son, Earl
“Butch” Graves Jr, said in
a post on Twitter.
Graves launched his
magazine, Black Enter
prise, in 1970. He later said
his aim was to educate, in
spire and uplift his readers.
“My goal was to show
them how to thrive profes
sionally, economically and
as proactive, empowered
Wilson
NcU
citizens,” Graves wrote in
his 1997 book “How To
Succeed In Business With
out Being White.”
According to an obitu
ary published by Black En
terprise, Graves grew up in
Brooklyn and gained an eco
nomics degree from Morgan
State University. He held jobs
in law enforcement and real
estate before working on Sen.
Robert F. Kennedy’s staff.
After Kennedy’s assassi
nation in 1968, he moved to
found the magazine, which is
now headed by his son.
He served on the boards of
several major corporations,
including American Airlines,
Daimler Chrysler and Rohm
& Hass and backed the presi
dential bids of Jesse Jackson
and Barack Obama, Black
Enterprise wrote.
In addition to Black Enter
prise, Graves also ran Pepsi
Cola of Washington, D.C.,
one of the nation’s largest
soft-drink distributors owned
by African Americans. He
sold his stake in the bottler to
PepsiCo in 1998.
Masked shoppers walk through the Target parking lot in northeast Jackson,
Miss., Wednesday, April 8, 2020. African Americans in Mississippi are being dis
proportionately affected by the new coronavirus, and many have underlying health
problems that make them more vulnerable to it, the state epidemiologist said Tues
day. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Legislative candidate Alston
moving now to N. Carolina House
(AP) - A Durham City Council member will join the North Carolina House now after
the death of the legislator she had been likely expected to succeed early next year.
Durham County Democratic activists meeting online April 9 chose Vernetta Alston
unanimously to fill the seat left vacant when Rep. Mary Ann Black died on March 25.
Gov. Roy Cooper is obligated by state law to appoint Alston to the seat, to serve through
December.
The General Assembly scheduled its annual session to begin April 28.
Alston was the only candidate running in 2020 for a two-year term that begins in
January for the seat covering Black’s heavily Democratic 29th House District. Black
announced late last year that she wouldn’t seek reelection.
Alston is an attorney who has worked at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Her
appointment to the legislature will create a vacancy on the Durham council.
Over 50 new coronavirus cases
confirmed at nursing home
PITTSBORO (AP) - Testing confirmed just over 50 additional cases of COVID-19 at
a North Carolina nursing home with a coronavirus outbreak, health officials said April
12, as the number of cases around the state continued to rise.
All residents and staff of The Laurels of Chatham were tested for COVID-19 after
six people associated with the facility had previously tested positive, Chatham County
said in a news release April 12. The results showed an additional 51 individuals had the
virus, bringing the total to 57.
“We anticipated that universal testing at the facility would reveal more positive cas
es, and we remain concerned for the staff, residents and their families affected by this
outbreak,” Chatham County Public Health Director Layton Long said in a statement.
“While COVID-19 is highly infectious, especially in congregate living facilities, we
remain focused on limiting the spread of the virus.”
Data released April 12 by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services showed
an increase in confirmed cases to just over 4,500, up by about 200 from the day before.
The death toll increased by one to 81.
Both figures are almost certainly an undercount due to a lack of widespread testing
and the likelihood that many people without symptoms could be spreading the highly
contagious virus.
State data show there are 28 ongoing outbreaks in nursing homes across the state. An
outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory confirmed cases.
Among those outbreaks is one at PruittHealth-Carolina Point in Durham, where a
fourth person died over the weekend, The News & Observer reported.
In Concord, at least 14 people in a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center have
tested positive, with around 200 tests still pending, health officials told local media.
Nationwide, the U.S. has over a half million confirmed cases, with deaths surpassing
21,000 on April 12, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
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