Mass incarceration and early deaths contribute to 1.5 million missing Black men in the United States, according to a study done by The New York Times.
The Times reported, “For every 100 Black women not in jail, there are only 83 Black men. The remaining men – 1.5 million of them – are, in a sense, missing…This gap – driven mostly by incarceration and early deaths – barely exists among whites.”
The study compared the ratio of 17 missing Black men for every 100 Black women to Whites where there is “one missing White man for every 100 White women.”
Of the U.S. cities with large populations of Blacks, the one with the biggest gender gap is Ferguson, Mo., with 40 Black men missing for every 100 Black women, reported The Times.
BLACK MEN
According to the study, Black men face a greater chance of dying young and are more likely to be incarcerated.
“It is a measure of the deep disparities that continue to afflict Black men — disparities being debated after a recent spate of killings by the police,” The Times reported. “Perhaps the starkest description of the situation is this: More than one out of every six Black men who today should be between 25 and 54 years old have disappeared from daily life.”
GENDER GAP
The report found the largest group of missing men can generally be found in the South. The gender gap in the West, however, tended to be smaller.
“Of the 1.5 million missing Black men from 25 to 54 — which demographers call the prime-age years — higher imprisonment rates account for almost 600,000.” The Times reported. “Almost 1 in 12 black men in this age group are behind bars, compared with 1 in 60 non-Black men in the age group.”
Homicide, according to the study, is the leading cause of death for young Black men. It is a large factor in the gender discrepancy. Blacks also die more often from heart disease, respiratory disease and accidents than other demographic groups. This includes Black women.
MURDER AND HIV
Although murder and HIV rates for Black men have been falling, according to the study, the rate of incarceration for them has been on the rise since the 1980s.
“In many communities, rising numbers of Black men spared an early death have been offset by rising numbers behind bars” The Times reported.
The 17 missing men for every 100 women gap in gender between Black males and females is non-existent in childhood, the report said. However, “An imbalance begins to appear among teenagers, continues to widen through the 20s and peaks in the 30s.”
This, according to the report, leaves many Black women hard-pressed to find a potential partner of the same race, while the remaining (83) Black men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, have no incentive to compete to find one.
“In those states hit hardest by the high incarceration rates, African American women have become more likely to work and more likely to pursue their education further than they are elsewhere,” the report concluded.
