From Enslavement to COVID-19: A History of African American Health and Labor

During the COVID-19 pandemic, commentators opined that the high concentration of African Americans in dangerous and unsafe work and living environments exposed them to the virus at higher and deadlier rates than their Euro-American counterparts. In From Enslavement to COVID-19, Joe William Trotter Jr. delves into the historical context of this phenomenon.

Focusing on four historical periods—enslavement, emancipation, the industrial era, and the digital age—Trotter argues that rather than bei...