If reparations for the descendants of enslaved people had occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic, virus transmissions could have been significantly lower not only for Black Americans, but also across racial groups, according to new research.

“We demonstrate that had a program of reparations for Black American descendants of US slavery been enacted prior to the pandemic—had the nation already closed the racial wealth gap—infection rates and mortality would have been dramatically lower not only for black Americans but for all Americans,” says coauthor William A. Darity, Jr., professor of public policy at Duke University’s Sanford School.

Reparation payments could narrow the racial wealth gap, and narrow disparities in access to health care, housing, and employment, the study finds.

Read the full article about reparations by Jackie Ogburn at Futurity.