In the last few years, several episodes of violence and shocking police brutality have brought the fragility of black lives into the light of national media coverage. But at the same time, another important—and, perhaps, equally complicated—story is emerging: African Americans, and young black men in particular, are on average living much longer than they were just two decades ago.
The decline in mortality has been especially dramatic among young African American children and teenagers. The death rate for black men between the ages of 20 and 49 dropped by half between 1990 and 2010. African Americans are the only ethnic group with a declining suicide rate since the turn of the century. The longevity gap between blacks and whites, once as large as seven years in 1990, has shrunk to three years, the smallest gap on record. These positive developments are encased in graver news: Black Americans still live shorter lives, on average, and they die at higher rates than whites from infant mortality, heart disease, and homicide, as Sabrina Tavernise reported in the New York Times. Moreover, rising mortality rates among white Americans are also in part responsible for the smaller gap.
[For more of this story, written by Derek Thompson, go to http://www.theatlantic.com/bus...iving-longer/481968/]
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