per 100,000 in 1990. Data show a pattern of increasing death rates between 1990 and 1995 for the other racial groups as well, and for them, also, a decrease in 1996. Rates for Blacks and Hispanics, however, are considerably higher than those for Whites, while rates for Native Americans or Alaska Natives and Asians or Pacific Islanders are considerably lower. In 1996, the Black/White death rate ratio for HIV/AIDS deaths was 5.75:1 and the Hispanic/White ratio was 2.26:1, both considerably higher than they were in 1990. The impact of AIDS on the Black population is revealed by the fact that in 1996, while HIV was the eighth leading cause of death in the United States overall, it was the fourth leading cause of death in the Black population and the third leading cause of death among Black males.

In 1996, homicide was the eleventh leading cause of death for the U.S. population overall, but it was the seventh leading cause of death for Blacks and Hispanics, the ninth leading cause of death for Asians or Pacific Islanders, and the tenth leading cause of death for Native Americans or Alaska Natives (National Center for Health Statistics, 1998). Among males, homicide is the fifth leading cause of death for Blacks and Hispanics and the ninth leading cause of death for Native Americans or Alaska Natives and Asians or Pacific Islanders. In 1996, firearms were used in 70 to 80 percent of homicides of White, Black, and Hispanic men age 25 to 44 and between 50 and 60 percent of homicides of women (National Center for Health Statistics, 1998). Age-adjusted death rates from homicide in Table 14–7A show that in 1995, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans or Alaska Natives had mortality rates considerably higher than those of Asians or Pacific Islanders and Whites. For Whites, homicide death rates rose progressively between 1950 and 1980, then declined slightly but remained relatively stable between 1985 and 1995; however, the rate in 1995 was 2.5 times higher than it was in 1950. Homicide rates for Blacks were 11 times higher than rates for Whites in 1950 and rose to a peak of 46.1 per 100,000 in 1970. Between 1970 and 1980, rates declined for Blacks but increased for Whites. By 1995, the homicide death rate for Blacks (33.4 per 100,000) was six times higher than it was for Whites. Homicide rates for Native Americans or Alaska Natives declined from 1980 to 1995 to a rate 2.16 times higher than that of Whites. Homicide rates for Asians or Pacific Islanders fluctuated between 1980 and 1995, with the 1995 rate being very close to that of the White population. Homicide death rates for Hispanics hovered at around three times higher than those of Whites, with the rate in 1995 only slightly lower than it was in 1985.