Mapping the Color Line: Racial/Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Life Expectancy Across the United States.

In 1903, sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, “. . . for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line” (1). In their article, Johnson and colleagues (2) estimate life expectancy at birth in the United States by race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic), sex, and state from 1990 to 2019. The findings add to our growing knowledge of large and persistent racial/ethnic health disparities and changes in disparities during recent stagnation in U.S. life expectancy.