If Sean Bell Were Better Educated, Would He Still Be Alive? Studies Answer this Question in the Affirmative.

May be I'm taking this latest bit of news from a recent Washington Post piece too literally. Or maybe not. Again, this is not to disregard real cases of police misconduct but I'm also a believer of intense investigation and discernment. The Post article rather bluntly affirms that college educated Blacks showed the steepest decline in mortality rates in comparison to other groups. Here's an excerpt:

While there is growing hazard for poorly educated and presumably lower-income Americans, race in itself does not strongly predict health outcomes. The group with the steepest decline in premature deaths was college-educated African Americans.

White female high school dropouts had the greatest erosion in their health, with their mortality rate rising by a little more than 3 percent a year over the nine-year period. A greater number of accidents, heart attacks, and cases of emphysema and cancer were responsible for about half this increase.

White male high school dropouts also had an increase in their risk of dying prematurely rise, by about 1 percent a year. Increasing numbers of accidents, suicides and cancers were largely responsible.

White male high school dropouts were 4.4 times as likely to die prematurely as white male college graduates. For white women, mortality in dropouts was 3.8 times that of college graduates.

For African American males with college degrees, death rates fell dramatically -- an average of 6 percent a year over the nine-year period. Fewer deaths from heart disease, cancer and, especially, AIDS were the main reasons. For black women who had finished college, mortality fell about 3 percent a year, driven mostly by fewer strokes, heart attacks and cases of cancer.

The Post piece did not mention death by violence but I think education plays a role in avoiding some of the more pathological aspects of the stereotypical Black existence. Am I wrong on this...let's hear what you think. I'll be wearing Iron Man like armor to protect me from the expected barbs and criticisms. Oh and check out the article in its entirety for further clarification:

The Less the Education, the Higher the Risk of Dying Early