Racial Gap

Drug overdose deaths in the United States have decreased since 2022, but this is largely due to decreases in overdoses by White Americans. In contrast, Black Americans and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders experienced statistically significant increases in the same time period.

In an analysis of each state's education system, researchers at WalletHub have identified Wyoming, New Mexico, and West Virginia as the most racially equitable states and Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Minnesota as the least racially equitable states for Black Americans.

"That police expenditures were associated with increases in suicide and police-perpetrated killing for Black residents is alarming given the national norm for suicide and mental health crisis intervention is a police-led response," the authors write. Instead, they suggest increasing spending on social services such as housing and community development to improve Black life expectancy.

According to new research presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology conference, Black and Latinx patients with prostate cancer are significantly less likely than White patients to have had a novel imaging technique that has been associated with improved diagnosis and treatment capabilities.

A new study has analyzed data on emergency department visits for American children between 1997 to 2019, finding Black children had the highest rates of emergency room visits across the entire study period.

In 2022, Black Americans owned some 4.4 million nonemployer businesses in the United States, equating to 14.9 percent of all American businesses without paid employees.

Overall, assistant professors of medicine from racial backgrounds underrepresented in the field (non-White and non-Asian), earn $0.93 for every $1 earned by their White peers. Pay disparities are even more pronounced for underrepresented women, who earn just $0.78 for every $1 earned by their White male counterparts.

Authored by Frank Harris III, professor of postsecondary education at San Diego State University, and Tina King, president of the San Diego College of Continuing Education, the report draws on data from several prior studies to shed light on how institutions and policymakers can ensure "all Black students can go to college and succeed without sacrificing or leaving their cultural assets behind."

JBHE has compiled Black student graduation rates at the nation's 30 highest-ranked universities. At 29 of the 30 universities, the Black student graduation rate is 85 percent or higher. Nineteen have Black student graduation rates of 90 percent or higher.

Breast cancer deaths among Black women aged 20-49 dropped from 16.54 deaths per 100,000 women in 2010 to just 3.41 deaths per 100,000 women in 2020. However, Black women's breast cancer mortality remains notably higher than that of White women, whose morality rate in 2020 was only 1.16 deaths per 100,000 women.

Scholars from the University of Pennsylvania have found patient outcomes directly related to nursing care are worse at Black-serving hospitals, including those with strong nursing resources.

For every 100,000 children, 11.7 Black children and 2.1 White children died by firearm in 2023. Among youth homicides, 8.9 Black children and one White child died by firearm per every 100,000 children in 2023.

"Increasing trust among Black communities requires the medical profession to become more trustworthy," the study authors write. "Part of building trust is increasing the opportunity for members of underrepresented groups to be in positions of authority, including as principal investigators and physicians."

The Black-White infant mortality gap has significantly increased since the 1950s. As of the 2010s, Black infants are more than twice as likely to die as White infants in the United States.

In an online experiment using two short documentary films, viewers consistently rated Black women scientists as less warm and less competent than Black men and White scientists of both genders, particularly when they introduced a White test subject.

When an online platform uses a five-star rating scale, non-White gig workers receive lower ratings, on average, than their White counterparts, resulting in a 9 percentage point income gap. However, changing the rating scale to a simple thumbs up/thumbs down nearly eliminates this racial disparity.

As of 2023, the homeownership rate of Black Americans is 44.7 percent - significantly lower than that of White (72.4 percent), Asian (63.4 percent) and Hispanic (51.0 percent) Americans.

The "Black Minds Matter 2025" report from EdTrust-West has outlined the state of education for Black Californians, documenting the barriers facing Black students in TK-12 and higher education settings.

The study authors argue that "there is no justification needed [to explain present-day racial health disparities] beyond the key role of structural racism experienced directly by African Americans today."

A new study has found Black children get less sleep and experience greater variability in their sleep routines compared to children from other racial groups. As sleep is an essential component of pediatric health, the authors believe their findings suggest pediatric clinicians should inquire about sleep habits when working with children from diverse racial backgrounds.