Mortality Patterns in the Southern Black Belt: Regional and Racial Comparisons

W. E. B. Du Bois coined the term The Black Belt to indicate an area of extreme structural inequality. The Southern Black Belt is a set of U.S. counties with proportionately high African American populations and the Plantation South's social legacy. Previous research revealed the region's serious socioeconomic disadvantages. This article presents the first comprehensive analysis of Black Belt mortality. Both Blacks and Whites in the Black Belt experience substantially worse infant mortality and shorter life expectancy compared to their counterparts in the rest of the South and the rest of the U.S. The study also examines the region's leading causes of death and cause-specific "excess" deaths by race, and considers the findings' policy implications.