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March 1993 (Volume 71)
Quarterly Article
Thomas A. LaVeist
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Cities in the United States have undergone major social transitions during the past two decades. Three notable factors in these shifts have been the development of a black political elite, sustained rates of black poverty, and intensified racial segregation. Indications of the effect of these social forces on black-white differentials in health status have begun to surface in the research literature. This article reports analyses of data from all U.S. cities with a population of 50,000, at least 10 percent of which is black. These results indicate substantial geographic variation in black-white infant mortality rates. Racial residential segregation, black political empowerment, and black and white poverty are the characteristics that distinguish cities that have a high degree of disparity in black-white infant mortality from cities that do not.
Author(s): Thomas A. LaVeist
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Volume 71, Issue 1 (pages 41–64) Published in 1993