Racial Gap

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.

The study authors write, "Addressing the social determinants of health factors unique to Black women will not only increase mammography screening and improve breast cancer outcomes for this population but may lessen the economic burden that disparate health outcomes create."

While Black Americans represent nearly 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they represent just 5.5 percent of all top staff positions in the personal offices of U.S. House members and senators.

Only 25 films out of the top 100 highest-earning movies in 2024 featured a nonwhite lead or co-lead actor. These 25 films feature a combined 26 protagonists, 10 of whom are Black.

In an examination of six different kinds of school discipline and punishment, three comparison groups, and 16 subpopulations, a new study has found that "no matter how you slice it, Black students are overrepresented among those punished and excluded."

"To achieve a workforce that reflects the diversity of the U.S. population, academic medicine must transform its culture and the practices that surround faculty appointments and promotions," write the study authors, who found White male medical professors are more likely than their peers from nearly every other racial or gender group to receive a promotion.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022 less than 195,000 of the 5.9 million employer firms in the United States in 2022 were owned by Black Americans.

A team of scholars led by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta has found Black athletes are five times as likely as White athletes to experience a heart attack or die from sudden cardiac complications.

According to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the percentage of students who began college in the fall of 2018 and earned a credential within six years rose to 61.1 percent. For Black students who enrolled in 2018, 43.8 percent had earned a degree or other credential within six years. This is more than 17 percentage points below the overall rate. And the racial gap has increased in recent years.

A new study from scholars at Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Alabama, has found racial achievement gaps grow more quickly in districts where Black and Hispanic students attend higher-poverty schools than their White peers.

The National Bureau of Economic Research has examined the long-term effects on educational attainment and economic outcomes for Black and Hispanic students in Texas, California, Washington, and Florida - the first four states to ban affirmative action in higher education admissions decisions.