Death is something that’s around a lot these days. And it’s not just because of Covid-19. It’s people who are dying because of things that are being picked up too late because of delayed hospital appointments. And yes, it’s also because to keep going at a time like this can mentally be very difficult.

That said, there’s a time when you’ve got to start asking questions. This week, Kai Alcé posted the sobering message on his personal Facebook page that he could “run off a list of 10+ folks who have died within the last week. All unvaccinated”.

Too right it’s tiring. I understand one of those he’s referring to is Paul Johnson, whose funeral took place on Monday. I left this detail out of reports I wrote when he was in hospital, but it’s my understanding he wasn’t vaccinated. So what’s behind all this?

In the case of black and other ethnic minority American DJs, the reasons appear to be historical. Between 1932 and 1972, the US government ran a programme called the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the N***o Male. It was a study conducted specifically with black men into what happened when you didn’t treat syphilis.

The study was one of the worst violations of ethical standards in American history and caused the deaths of 128 men. And although President Clinton formally apologised for the programme in 1997, trust in the US authorities within the black community remains low to this day.

It’s widely suspected this is having an effect on uptake of the Covid vaccine within black communities in the USA. On the face of it, if this is correct, the devastating effects are starting to be seen. And the Delta variant has only just got started in America…

As for the case of white anti-vax DJs in Britain and Europe? They don’t have that excuse. As one of my sources put it in a conversation lately, “most of them really just are that stupid”…

By The Editor

Editor-in-chief at Amateur’s House.