Celtics' Brown pens message of unity amid COVID-19 crisis

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown urged people to "come together" amid the coronavirus pandemic, even as he used an essay in The Guardian to point out that the virus has highlighted inequality in America.

Noting that more than 30,000 have died from COVID-19 in the United States -- it was 40,000 by Sunday afternoon -- the Georgia native added that of "those heart-wrenching numbers, the percentage of African Americans and people of color is both alarming and disproportionate.

"Our healthcare system could be potentially highlighting injustices this beautiful nation has composed and suppressed since its establishment," he wrote.

Data on COVID-19 cases by race show a pattern of over-representation by black Americans in states or jurisdictions that are sharing the numbers.

When it was shown in early April that 68 percent of coronavirus deaths in Chicago had been among African Americans, who make up just 30 percent of the city's population, mayor Lori Lightfoot said the numbers "take your breath away."