Historical slavery predicts contemporary disparities in mortality between Black and White Americans

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Galvan, Manuel J.; Payne, B. Keith; Muscatell, Keely A.; Rucker, Julian M.; Sheeran, Paschal
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; University of North Carolina School of Medicine
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2508037123
• 发表日期: 2026-08-18
• 页码: e2508037123
• 关键词: Health disparities; racism; PSYCHOLOGY; mortality; STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY; UNITED-STATES; HEALTH; legacy; US; population; INEQUALITY; education; poverty

摘要

We tested whether contemporary Black-White mortality disparities in the United States may be rooted in the historical legacy of slavery and perpetuated through structural inequalities. Linking county-level data on the proportion of enslaved people in 1860 with structural inequality indicators from 1990 to 2000 and mortality outcomes from 2010 to 2020, we find that historical slavery is robustly associated with contemporary racial mortality gaps. Our model estimates similar to 22 additional deaths per 100,000 among Black Americans relative to White Americans for every 10% increase in the 1860 enslaved population. Path analysis models showed that segregation, economic inequality, and racial disparities in poverty and education statistically mediated this effect. We test the plausibility of a causal pathway using an instrumental variable analysis and explore the robustness of our theoretical model in multiple supplemental analyses. Our analyses held even after controlling for a comprehensive suite of historical and contemporary covariates. These findings are consistent with a model wherein slavery's legacy continues to shape present-day Black-White racial health disparities via enduring structural inequities.