High Incidence of AIDS Deaths Among Black Males Reported

Black males accounted for 12% of the AIDS-related deaths in California in 1989 despite being less than 4% of the population, according to a report by the California Commission on the Status of African-American Males.

AIDS is the leading cause of death among black males ages 35 to 44, the second among those 25 to 34 and the third among black males 45 to 54, the report said.

The state’s 1.08 million black males also are more likely to go to prison, more likely to die young and less likely to succeed in the job market than members of other societal groupings, the report contended. Black males are “struggling to survive in a world in which a bullet wound is more familiar than a classroom,” said Assemblywoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) the commission chairwoman.

Black males make up 33.8% of the California prison population, and one out of every three black men age 20 to 29 is in prison, on parole or on probation, according to the report.

It also said that in some areas, seven out of every 10 black males drop out of school. Among high school graduates, one out of every three had a grade-point average below 2.0--the eligibility threshold for the state university system. The unemployment rate for black men in California in 1991 was 12.4%, compared to 7.5% for white males, the report said.