Numbers can help put American racism in perspective. And here is what the numbers say: The United States is a vastly different country, depending on the color of your skin. For African Americans, hardship begins before birth. The infant mortality rate for blacks, for example, is more than twice that of white Americans.
Infant mortality rates
per 1,000 live births
African
Americans
11
White
Americans
4.7
Canada
Mexico
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (2017); World Bank via Federal
Reserve (Canada and Mexico, 2018).
Infant mortality rates per 1,000 live births
African
Americans
11
White
Americans
4.7
Canada
Mexico
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017);
World Bank via Federal Reserve (Canada and Mexico, 2018).
Infant mortality rates per 1,000 live births
White Americans
4.7
African Americans
11
Canada
Mexico
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017); World Bank via Federal Reserve
(Canada and Mexico, 2018).
Black women are more likely to receive late, or no, prenatal care, and they also face nearly three times the risk of pregnancy-related deaths.
Maternal mortality rates
per 100,000 live births
White
Americans
14.7
African
Americans
37.1
Canada
Mexico
0
10
20
30
40
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (2018); Statistics Canada (2018);
Mexico’s Health Secretariat (2017).
Maternal mortality rates
per 100,000 live births
White
Americans
14.7
African
Americans
37.1
Canada
Mexico
0
10
20
30
40
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018);
Statistics Canada (2018); Mexico’s Health Secretariat (2017).
Maternal mortality rates per 100,000 live births
White Americans
14.7
African Americans
37.1
Canada
Mexico
0
10
20
30
40
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018); Statistics Canada (2018);
Mexico’s Health Secretariat (2017).
But infant and maternal mortality are only part of the health risks plaguing the African American community. Black Americans also suffer from higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, asthma and heart disease than white Americans. Research suggests that social determinants — conditions in the places where we live, work, learn and play — are important drivers of health inequities, and that racism itself can harm health.
In this parallel reality, family income is much lower. The percentage of black children living below the poverty line is three times that of whites.
Median household income
$80 thousand
White
60
40
Black
20
2002
2010
2018
People under 18 in poverty
40%
30
Black
20
10
White
2002
2010
2018
Source: U.S. Census
Median household
income
People under
18 in poverty
$80K
40%
White
60
30
Black
40
20
Black
20
10
White
2002
’10
’18
2002
’10
’18
Source: U.S. Census
Median household income
People under 18 in poverty
$80 thousand
40%
White
60
30
Black
40
20
Black
20
10
White
2002
2010
2018
2002
2010
2018
Source: U.S. Census
It’s not just income but employment itself: Blacks live in a country where the economy is always in recovery. Even though white Americans haven’t seen an unemployment rate near 15 percent in decades, African Americans have seen it many times — about once a decade over the past 50 years.
Unemployment rate
20%
Black
15
10
5
White
’74
’80
’90
’00
’10
’20
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via
Federal Reserve Bank
Unemployment rate
20%
Black
15
10
5
White
’74
’80
’90
’00
’10
’20
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via
Federal Reserve Bank
Unemployment rate
20%
Black
15
10
5
White
’74
’80
’90
’00
’10
’20
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Federal Reserve Bank
Unemployment rate
20%
Black
15
10
5
White
1974
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Federal Reserve Bank
Unemployment rate
20%
Black
15
10
5
White
1974
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Federal Reserve Bank
One form of discrimination believed to have cascading consequences is a practice known as “redlining.” From the 1930s to the late 1960s, areas with sizable black populations were marked with red ink on maps used by banks to determine who was eligible to get loans. It was often impossible for residents of those areas to secure home mortgages. If they got loans, the interest rates could be prohibitive. The practice was banned more than 50 years ago, but a 2018 study found that 3 out of 4 neighborhoods redlined 80 years ago continue to struggle economically today.
Home ownership is directly linked to wealth and, for centuries, blacks were essentially blocked from it. Underpaid or unable to buy a home, a large part of the black community remains unable to gain access to the main way that whites have achieved wealth and middle-class stability. As a result, the net worth of white households is now 10 times greater than black households.
Home ownership rate
80%
White
60
40
Black
20
1994
2018
Median net worth of a family
$200 thousand
$171,000
White
150
100
50
$17,150
Black
1980
2016
Source: U.S. Census, Federal Reserve Bank,
2016 Survey of Consumer Finances
Home ownership
rate
Median net worth
of a family
80%
$200K
$171K
White
60
150
White
100
40
Black
50
20
$17.1K
Black
1994
2018
1980
2016
Source: U.S. Census, Federal Reserve Bank,
2016 Survey of Consumer Finances
Home ownership rate
Median net worth of a family
80%
$200 thousand
$171,000
White
White
60
150
40
100
Black
20
50
Black
$17,150
1980
2016
1994
2018
Source: U.S. Census, Federal Reserve Bank, 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances
In the United States, school quality is linked to neighborhood wealth. An analysis by the nonprofit EdBuild found that schools in mainly white neighborhoods received $2,200 more per student than nonwhite schools in the school year 2015-2016. This economic segregation correlates to educational outcomes.
Math SAT scores
Mean scores
600
White
500
All groups
Black
400
300
2006
2016
Source: College Board
People 25 and older
who went to college
40%
White
30
20
Black
10
1993
2019
Note: Population 25 and older who completed
four or more years of college.
Source: U.S. Census.
Math SAT scores
Mean scores
People 25 and older
who went to college
600
40%
White
White
30
500
All groups
20
Black
Black
400
10
300
2006
2016
1993
2019
Note: Population who completed four or more years of college.
Source: U.S. Census.
Math SAT scores
Mean scores
People 25 and older
who went to college
600
40%
White
White
30
500
All groups
20
Black
Black
400
10
300
2006
2016
1993
2019
Note: Population25 and older who completed four or more years of college.
Source: College Board; U.S. Census.
In addition to growing up poorer and without access to mortgages and equal educations, black children are also much more likely to be arrested. Even though there has been improvement in the past few decades, the trend persists: Incarceration rates of African Americans in general remain 5.6 times greater than of white Americans. Black people are about 12 percent of the U.S. population, but one-third of the inmate population.
Arrests of minors aged 10 to 17
Per 100,000 people
12,000
Black
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
White
2,000
2000
2018
Adult incarceration rate
Per 100,000 people
2,500
Black
2,000
1,500
1,000
White
500
2008
2018
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Arrests of minors
aged 10 to 17
Incarceration rate
of adult population
Per 100,000 people
Per 100,000 people
2,500
12,000
Black
Black
10,000
2,000
8,000
1,500
6,000
1,000
4,000
White
500
2,000
White
’08
’18
’00
’18
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Arrests of minors aged 10 to 17
Adult incarceration rate
Per 100,000 people
Per 100,000 people
2,500
12,000
Black
Black
10,000
2,000
8,000
1,500
6,000
1,000
4,000
White
White
500
2,000
2008
2018
2000
2018
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
The long list of discrepancies comes together on fatal encounters with the police: Blacks are killed by the police at more than twice the rate of whites.
Rate of police killings
Black
31 per million
White
13
Hispanic
23
Other
4
U.S. population
Black
42M
White
197M
Hispanic
39M
Other
49M
Source: The Washington Post’s database of
police shootings since 2015.
Rate of police killings
Black
31 per million
White
13
Hispanic
23
Other
4
U.S. population
Black
42M
White
197M
Hispanic
39M
Other
49M
Source: The Washington Post’s database of police
shootings since 2015.
Rate of police killings
Black
31 per million
White
13 per million
Hispanic
23 per million
Other
4 per million
U.S. population
Black
42M
White
197M
Hispanic
39M
Other
49M
Source: The Washington Post’s database of police shootings since 2015.
The bottom line is clear. Here’s how the numbers add up: Whites live in one America and blacks live in another.
Sergio Peçanha is a visual columnist at the Opinions desk of The Post. Follow on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
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