Congressional Black Caucus: The Missing Black Male

Floor Speech

Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding as we continue our conversation about the challenges facing black males today.

As Chairwoman of the CBC Health Braintrust, I want to discuss the health challenges and health outcomes for black men.

There are a wide range of dangers and health threats that disproportionately affect black men. Some of these, we've known about for decades, and can be mitigated with the right treatments. While others are emerging issues that require more research, more debate, and more innovation. The end result is that black men have the lowest life expectancy, highest death rate, and have some of the worst health outcomes across demographics.

Black men suffer disproportionately from chronic illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death for African American men.

Heart disease is the number one killer for all American men. But today, African American men remain disproportionately at risk for heart disease. 42.6 percent of black men suffer from high blood pressure, compared to 33.4 percent of white men. And nearly 44 percent of African American men suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease that can lead to strokes and heart attacks.

As for cancer, black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as white men and have a higher incidence and death rate from colorectal cancer.

A study published this April in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that African Americans were 58 percent more likely than white people to develop prostate cancer. The same study also found that obese black men had a 103 percent increased prostate cancer risk compared to obese white men.
Obesity has also been connected with heart disease and other chronic illnesses. And today almost 40 percent of African American men are obese, 69 percent are obese or overweight.

These are serious issues that pose serious health dangers to black men. We may not know exactly why black men are so much more at risk for these ailments. But we DO know what we can do to reduce the health risks and take action to prevent disease.

That's why as we celebrate National Men's Health Week this week, I want to encourage all men to take action--exercise, eat right, and get a check up. As Chairwoman of the CBC Health Braintrust, I'll be pushing the conversation forward and working to pass legislation to fund more research and promote health education so that all Americans can continue living healthy lives.

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to discuss two issues that are plaguing the next generation of black Americans. These being issues related to violence--gun violence and suicide.
Starting with gun violence. In underserved communities around America, children are growing up in fear. Kids are playing tag indoors, instead of out on their front lawn. Mothers worry about their child walking home from school.

Gun violence in America disproportionately affects African Americans and more specifically African American males. Today, 50 percent of all deaths for black males aged 15-24 are homicides, usually involving a gun. And this year, we are on track for gun violence to become the leading cause of death for young black males.
In the first six months of this year, the Redeye Chicago, a local publication, tracked 157 gun related homicides in the city. Nearly 130 of them involved black males. This isn't an isolated problem. An analysis of the FBI's national database of supplementary homicide reports revealed that across the country 17,422 black males ages 13 to 30 have been killed by firearms since 2008.

It's time we change this. Through common-sense legislation, we can ensure that fear of gun violence is no longer the status quo in our communities. That's one of the reasons I released the Kelly Report on Gun Violence last summer. This was the first comprehensive Congressional report on the gun violence problem in America, and included effective policy strategies to reduce gun violence in America. I ask that my colleagues consider some of the ideas in that report online.

And continuing to speak of violence, I want to bring attention to the alarming increase in suicide among young black boys.

In 1982, the New York Times wrote an article entitled, ``Why Are Blacks Less Suicide Prone than Whites?'' I stand here now asking ``Why are black boys becoming more suicide prone?''

According to a recently published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, while the overall suicide rate has remained stagnant over the past 20 years, tragically the suicide rate among black boys as young as ten years old has nearly doubled. Almost 20 percent of these suicides are attributed to gun-related wounds.

This shocking and tragic issue is receiving very little attention in our national media and it's being overlooked in our national discussion on mental health. Just last month, our colleague, Congressman EMANUEL CLEAVER wrote President Barack Obama calling for a task force to examine this issue. In his letter, Congressman CLEAVER noted that this was the first time that any national survey found a higher suicide rate for blacks than for individuals of other ethnicities.

Whether you're black, white, Latino, or a veteran, Congress can do more to take necessary health care measures to address suicides. This Congress must work to end the horrific epidemic that is preventing young black boys from growing up and reaching their full potential.

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