Housing discrimination dating back to the 1940s put Black Americans more at risk of contracting and dying from the Covid-19 coronavirus. Here’s how. | Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Racist WWII housing policy might not sound like it has much to do with the coronavirus. But it does.

One thing hasn’t changed as a new surge of coronavirus cases has swelled across the United States: Black Americans continue to disproportionately get infected by and die from this novel pathogen.

The Los Angeles County health department reported this week that Black residents were dying at twice the rate its white residents were. The same is true of Black Alabamans. In Florida, Black people account for a higher share of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths than their share of the population.

The George Floyd protests forced a difficult conversation about the trade-offs of congregating