Kudos to the Tribune-Review for publishing Mona Charen’s column “Covid-19’s large non-surprise” (March 12, TribLIVE). In case you missed it, there is a well-known correlation between obesity and covid-19 mortality. It also is well documented that obesity is more prevalent among Blacks than whites. Charen presented the novel theory that maybe the higher death rate in the Black community from covid-19 might be due to higher obesity rates in that community rather than a severely racist American medical system.

We are so conditioned by the media to immediately accept that any disparities between the Black and white communities are the result of racism that I was shocked to read that maybe there was an explanation other than racism for this particular disparity. Maybe someday we will be able to examine other disparities between the Black and white communities to determine their cause instead of automatically assuming racism is to blame for everything.

Ed Pencoske

Trafford

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)