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Systemic Sickness
An archival photo of a Black hospital with nurses attending to child patients.

Systemic Sickness

Over the past two decades, Black Americans have continued to suffer a higher mortality rate when compared to whites. Some suggest these health disparities stem from genetics and personal choices. But, as this series shows, behind many of the most pressing problems are federal, state and local government policies that have protected the interests of business and the powerful over the well-being of Black residents.

Featured articles

Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress.

October 28, 2024

The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.

A Teen’s Murder, Mold in the Walls: Unfulfilled Promises Haunt Public Housing

August 22, 2024

For years, federal lawmakers have failed to deliver the money needed to fix derelict public housing, leaving tenants — mostly people of color and families with low incomes — living with mold and gun violence that has had lasting health consequences.

Mississippi Lacks Black Doctors, Even as Lawmakers Increasingly Target Diversity Programs

July 2, 2024

Administrators at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine are trying to recruit more Black students — and more Hispanic and Choctaw Nation students, for that matter. But they face several obstacles, including a recent swell of Republican opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

More from the Project

Watch: Why the US Has Made Little Progress Improving Black Americans’ Health

November 15, 2024

KFF Health News senior correspondents Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam discuss how government decisions undermine Black health.

A portrait of a doctor sitting in a chair and looking towards the viewer.

FDA’s Promised Guidance on Pulse Oximeters Unlikely To End Decades of Racial Bias

October 7, 2024

For decades, the pulse oximeters used in hospitals, ambulances, and homes have underestimated the oxygen needs of darker-skinned patients. The FDA is preparing guidelines to fix that. But will the new rules go far enough?

Toxic Gas Adds to a Long History of Pollution in Southwest Memphis

April 30, 2024

People across the nation claim cancer-causing emissions from local sterilizing plants are making them sick. It’s an example of environmental racism, say residents of one predominantly Black area in southwest Memphis, Tennessee, where life expectancy is much shorter than county and state averages.

A smoke plume billows from an oil refinery

Related Articles

A Boy’s Bicycling Death Haunts a Black Neighborhood. 35 Years Later, There’s Still No Sidewalk.

October 8, 2024

John Parker was in first grade when he was struck by a pickup truck driving on Durham’s Cheek Road, which lacks sidewalks to this day. Neighborhoods with no sidewalks, damaged walkways, and roads with high speed limits are concentrated in Black neighborhoods, research finds.

Most Black Hospitals Across the South Closed Long Ago. Their Impact Endures.

By Lauren Sausser, 

August 15, 2024

Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, was established to exclusively admit Black patients during a time when Jim Crow laws barred them from accessing the same health care facilities as white patients. Its closure underscores how hundreds of Black hospitals in the U.S. fell casualty to social progress.

‘I Feel Dismissed’: People Experiencing Colorism Say Health System Fails Them

By Chaseedaw Giles, 

August 5, 2024

Colorism — a form of prejudice and discrimination in which lighter skin is favored over darker skin — has been associated with mental health conditions such as depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety. But skin tone often goes unaddressed with therapists and clinical specialists.

Genetics Studies Have a Diversity Problem That Researchers Struggle To Fix

By Lauren Sausser, 

April 25, 2024

Researchers in Charleston, South Carolina, are trying to build a DNA database of 100,000 people to better understand how genetics affects health risks. But they’re struggling to recruit enough Black participants.

Silence in Sikeston

A multimedia reporting project that explores the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police shooting in the same rural Missouri community — two Black men killed by a public health threat of their time.

View the project

Credits

Reporters

Fred Clasen-Kelly
Renuka Rayasam
Lauren Sausser
Andy Miller

Producers

Lydia Zuraw
Lynne Shallcross
Oona Tempest

Editors

Sabriya Rice
Alex Wayne
Kelly Johnson
Terry Byrne
Gabe Brison-Trezise

Social and Engagement

Hannah Norman