Boston University School of Medicine, EurekAlert, July 13, 2018

Residential segregation is linked to many racial disparities in health, including cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Now, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers suggests the likelihood of dying from gun violence can be added to the list of adverse health outcomes associated with structural racism in the US.

The study, published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, finds states with greater residential segregation of black and white populations have higher racial disparities in firearm homicide fatalities. The study is one of the first to examine the relationship between racial residential segregation and firearm homicide fatalities at a state level over a 25-year period, and controlled for multiple race-specific measures of deprivation in education, employment, economic status, and housing.

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“Racial residential segregation is independently linked with the racial disparity in firearm homicides, even when other racial inequalities are accounted for, including unemployment, poverty, income, wealth, and single-parent families,” says study co-author Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at BUSPH.

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[Editor’s Note: The entire study can be purchased here.]