The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills

The Foreword is written by Lori Elaine Lightfoot, who was Chicago’s mayor between 2019 and 2023. Lightfoot highlights the stark health disparities in the USA, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. She notes that, in April 2020, data revealed that Black Chicagoans, who comprise only a third of the city’s population, accounted for 72% of its COVID-19 deaths. Similarly, cases among the Latino community were underreported but later shown to have significantly increased. This data underscores the entrenched inequities in healthcare access and outcomes.

The Foreword details Chicago’s urgent response to COVID-19, with city officials establishing the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team. This initiative aimed to address the disproportionate impact on marginalized communities. Beyond COVID-19, Lightfoot discusses how chronic diseases disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities, which results in a significant life expectancy gap between Black and white residents. These issues, she notes, reflect broader societal inequities shaped by poverty and systemic racism, where geographic location often determines life outcomes. In light of this, Lightfoot calls for collective action towards equitable healthcare and other essential services.