At the outset of the pandemic, more African Americans in Mississippi were being infected and killed by coronavirus than white people, a disparity that medical experts blamed on racial health disparities. Initially, Black Mississippians made up approximately 60% of the state’s cases and deaths, according to the state health department. In roughly the past month, white people have surpassed Black people in the overall reported COVID-19 death toll for the first time since the state health department started publishing data by race in June, according to CNN.
