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What's behind the high black infant mortality rates? Racism, not race
Residents say the neighborhood of Castlemont in Oakland has been historically underserved and under-resourced. It's part of the Best Babies Zone initiative, part of a national initiative which aim to change that.
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Priska Neely/KPCC
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What's behind the high black infant mortality rates? Racism, not race
Black babies in the the United States are twice as likely to die before their first birthdays as white babies. This alarming statistic is not new. That gap in birth outcomes has persisted for decades. As KPCC’s Priska Neely reports, one of the reasons it’s hard to change: systemic racism is at the heart of the issue.
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Read more from this series on LAist:
- America's Black Babies Are Paying For Society's Ills. What Will We Do To Fix It?
- Keeping Black Babies Alive Is A Priority For LA's Top Health Officials
- These People Have Dedicated Their Lives To Keeping Black Babies Alive
- Black Babies Die At Twice The Rate Of White Babies. My Family Is Part Of This Statistic
This project received support from the Center for Health Journalism's California Fellowship and its Fund for Journalism on Child Well-being.
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
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