Healthcare: Most of the black population lives in the south where the option to expand Medicaid benefits through the Affordable Care Act is more commonly denied. This leaves black Americans far less likely to be insured creating a barrier to accessing quality healthcare.

Environment and Neighborhoods: The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed black Americans being more likely of exposure to air pollution and unsafe drinking water due to their geographical location. This exposure impacts quality of life and contributes to development of illnesses and disease.

Education and Income: The difference between households with an annual median income compared to low-income households is generally education. The CDC correlates poor education with poor health outcomes. Black Americans are the largest share of the population living in poverty which results in poor access to quality K-12 education, decreased opportunities for postsecondary education, livable wages, economic stability, and decrease health outcomes.

While the country has made some progress, these statistics represent classic examples of systemic, structural, and institutional racism that still exist. Racism is a public health crisis and states are beginning to recognize and declare it in increasing numbers.

It is clearer now than ever that we need a more deliberate approach to improving black health disparities. These past two years have underscored how inequalities impact health outcomes for black Americans, every day. 

Black health disparities were most realized during the recent, and ongoing, novel coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19). By the end of July 2020, the U.S. COVID-19 related deaths surpassed 160,000 cases with black Americans’ mortality rate recorded multiple times higher than white Americans. Access to quality care was a top contributor to this disparity. By the end of 2020, the U.S. experienced over 400,000 confirmed coronavirus cases that resulted in death. For areas like Washington, District of Columbia—the host of the highest population density in the U.S.—72 percent of their deaths were attributed by black Americans. These health disparities observed with COVID-19 are consistent with disparate health outcomes for chronic diseases between black and white Americans to include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and maternal/infant mortality.

An intentional focus on decreasing the racial wealth gap or increasing resources to marginalized black communities is a reasonable starting point to generate the following cascade of events: decrease wealth gap, decrease inequalities in the social determinants of health, increase equitable health outcomes, increase national productivity, and boost economic mobility.

While most Americans recognize the wealth gap as a significant problem, less recognize it as top priority over affordable healthcare. However, the current state of the United States economy is incapable of investing in such a program. All resultant disparities from the racial wealth gap are the greatest between black and white American households and are deeply rooted in the country’s history. 

Extensive research and literature review performed by academicians across the nation and here at our foundation, substantiate the need to increase financial resources to black marginalized communities for better access to income, quality education, safe neighborhoods and environments, healthy social context, and quality healthcare to improve health outcomes.

Our intent is to join efforts across the nation committed to doing just that. We tackle this through research, advocacy, contributing initiatives and funding, and evaluating what makes the most impact.