Health inequity from the founding of the Freedmen's bureau to COVID-19

Abstract

Following the US Civil War, newly freed Black Americans had significantly poorer health than Whites. Founded in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau offered a range of support (eg, food, health care, shelter, legal aid) to try to improve health among the newly freed. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the persistence of racial health inequity in American life. Ethical obligations to address it exist now, just as they did in 1865.