From birth to death, Black Americans fare worse in measures of health compared to their white counterparts. They have higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, higher incidence of asthma during childhood, more difficulty treating mental health as teens, and greater rates of high blood pressure, Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses.
The Associated Press spent the past year exploring how the legacy of racism in America has laid the foundation for the health inequities that Black people face.
From Birth
To Death
Black Americans and a Lifetime of Disparities
Why do so many Black women die in pregnancy? One reason: Doctors don't take them seriously
Black children are more likely to have asthma. A lot comes down to where they live
Black kids face racism before they even start school. It's driving a major mental health crisis
High blood pressure plagues many Black Americans. Combined with COVID, it's catastrophic
A lifetime of racism makes Alzheimer’s more prevalent in Black Americans
The health inequities documented in this project have their roots in a long history of medical racism. The AP has collected a small sample of that history related to every phase of life.
Digital Presentation Credits
Producers: Samantha Shotzbarger, Josh Housing
Text Editing: Anna Jo Bratton, Andale Gross
Contributing Writers: Annie Ma, Aaron Morrison
Graphics: Kevin S. Vineys, Angeliki Kastanis
Design and Development: Linda Gorman, Eunice Esomonu, Kati Perry
Audience Coordination and Production: Edward Medeles, Elise Ryan, Almaz Abedje, Sophia Rosenbaum
Creative Development: Raghuram Vadarevu
Project Management: Andale Gross
Project Vision and Development: Kat Stafford
Stafford, based in Detroit, is a national investigative race writer for the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. She was a 2022 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow at the University of Michigan.