Lingering and glaring health disparities amidst COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the long-standing health disparities between racial and ethnic groups within the United States. Racism is the root cause of the disparities and inequities that have been largely unaddressed. The nursing profession has a responsibility to recognize and understand, from both historical and present contexts, how racism is embedded in structures and institutions and contributes to disproportionate health outcomes. Thus, there is a call to action for nurses to engage in antiracist activism at both the individual and institutional levels to address the public health crisis of racism and to adhere to ethical theories that are the foundation of nursing.