Iran: Trump Administration’s “Rampant Racism” Reason for High Coronavirus Death Toll of Afro-Americans

The Iranian foreign ministry wrote on its official twitter page on Wednesday that the US has failed “disastrously” in handling the coronavirus outbreak due to “rampant racism and class inequality in the age of Trump”.

It underlined the increased racial discrimination in the US, referring in particular to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery – a black man lynched by a white ex-cop and his son – and Breonna Taylor, who was mistakenly shot dead in a botched police raid, as well as the “skyrocketing” number of African-Americans dying of the COVID-19.

African-Americans represent 13.4 percent of the American population, according to the US Census Bureau.

A May 13 report by The Washington Post warned that a pandemic of stress is also threatening the Black Americans already devastated by the COVID-19.

The report said the stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic will have profound implications for the mental and physical health of black Americans and will have a dangerous impact long after the novel coronavirus has been contained.

“The virus is not only killing black Americans in disproportionate numbers, but is also forcing them to risk their health and their lives as essential workers, to care for loved ones who become sick and to attempt to self-isolate in crowded living conditions,” it added.

A recent study in the United States provided more evidence that the coronavirus is killing more African-Americans than whites or other ethnic groups, highlighting longstanding disparities in access to health care and economic opportunity.

US cities and towns with higher black populations account for more than half of all COVID-19 cases and al