Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves took to Twitter early on Wednesday morning to draw a comparison between Donald Trump's plan to reopen the American economy amid the coronavirus pandemic and the genocide of people of color, Breitbart reported.
"How many people will die this summer, before Election Day?" Gonsalves tweeted.
"What proportion of the deaths will be among African-Americans, Latinos, other people of color? This is getting awfully close to genocide by default. What else do you call mass death by public policy?"
"Getting threatening emails again," he tweeted two hours after his initial post. "Guess I should get with the program and say what a wonderful job the White House is doing on #COVID19, #coronavirus. Nope. Not a chance."
A recent national study by an AIDS research group found that black counties account for a significant number of coronavirus cases and deaths. In particular, counties with a disproportionate number of black Americans account for over half of coronavirus cases, and almost 60 percent of deaths, The Washington Post reported.
According to Gregorio Millett, vice president of AmfAR, the Foundation for Aids Research, all of his colleagues worry that reopening the U.S. economy will have a disproportionate effect on the many diverse communities in the country. Millet also claims that research is underway to examine the impact of loosening social distancing and sheltering requirements on disproportionately black counties in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas.
