rate (12.4) was in 1970. Rates were similarly high, and stable, for Native American or Alaska Native populations. In contrast, for Asians or Pacific Islanders, Blacks, and Hispanics, the pattern was of lower but generally increasing rates of suicide. Accordingly, although Asians or Pacific Islanders, Blacks, and Hispanics consistently had lower rates of suicide than Whites and Native Americans or Alaska Natives, rates were closer in 1995 than they were in the earliest available data.

The tables provided in this section show that the association between race and health is complex, and varies with the health-status indicator and the particular racial group under consideration. With the exception of suicide, Blacks consistently have higher death rates than Whites for the leading causes of death in the United States. Asians or Pacific Islanders consistently have lower death rates than Whites. Native Americans or Alaska Natives and Hispanics generally have lower death rates than Whites for the two leading causes of death in the United States (coronary heart disease and cancer) but higher death rates from several other causes.

Because there are extensive data for Blacks and Whites, trends become evident in comparisons of differences over time; and it is easy to see that among the groups considered, overall, Black-White differences are the most pronounced. For multiple causes of death (heart disease, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes) the Black-White gap was wider in 1990 than in 1950. For heart disease, the Black-White difference has widened as a result of more rapid improvements in the health of the White population compared to that of the Black population. For cancer and diabetes, there were stable or declining rates for Whites but increasing rates for Blacks. For cirrhosis of the liver, between 1950 and 1970, there were increases for both Blacks and Whites, but more rapid increases for Blacks. For influenza and pneumonia, the Black-White difference narrowed as a result of more rapid improvements in the health of Blacks compared to Whites. Declines in influenza and pneumonia deaths for Blacks were especially significant between 1960 and 1980; these declines coincided with the heyday of some of the gains of the Civil Rights Movement. Evidence suggests that the Civil Rights Movement had a positive effect on the health of the Black population overall (Mullings, 1989). One study found that Blacks experienced a more significant decline in mortality rates than Whites, both on a percentage basis and an absolute basis, between 1968 and 1978 (Cooper et al., 1981a). We need a better understanding of the reasons for this success.