The Gap Continues to Grow

In Bangladesh, a nation where the per capita income is $113 per year, men have a better chance of reaching age 65 than do black men in Harlem. The tiny country of monsoon rains has a gross national product of $16 billion, compared to the United States’ $4.5 trillion. Yet, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 55% of Bangladesh’s men reach age 65, compared to 40% of Harlem men.

The study points out that, unfortunately, natural causes do not explain the difference in mortality rates. To account for the high death rate for Harlem’s black men, the study cited drug dependency, illnesses resulting from alcohol abuse and homicide as the major causes.

This study--along with a recent article in Money magazine and previous articles in the black press about the cycle of economic discrimination--all point to a sobering truth: In spite of the prominence of a handful of black celebrities who made it big during the 1980s, the quality-of-life gap between blacks and whites is frighteningly persistent and in many cases is widening. Even college-educated blacks earn significantly less than comparably educated whites and have only one-third the net worth of white professionals with the same earnings, the Money article pointed out.

More studies and more evidence that the problem of racism in America won’t go away and is in urgent need of attention.