CHAPTER 3

Mental Health Care for African Americans

Introduction

African Americans occupy a unique niche in the history of America and in contemporary national life. The legacy of slavery and discrimination continues to influence their social and economic standing. The mental health of African Americans can be appreciated only within this wider historical context. Resilience and forging of social ties have enabled many African Americans to overcome adversity and to maintain a high degree of mental health.

Approximately 12 percent of people in the United States, or 34 million people, identify themselves as African American¹ (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001a). However, this figure may be lower than the actual number, because African Americans are overrepresented among people who are hard to reach through the census, such as those who are homeless or incarcerated (O'Hare et al., 1991). Census takers especially miss younger and middle-aged African American males because they are overrepresented in these vulnerable populations and because they often decline to participate in the census (Williams & Jackson, 2000).

The African American population is increasing in diversity as greater numbers of immigrants arrive from Africa and the Caribbean. Indeed, 6 percent of all blacks in the United States today are foreign-born. Most of them come from the Caribbean, especially the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica; in 1998, nearly 1.5 million blacks residing in the United States were born in the Caribbean (U.S. Census, 1998). In addition, since 1983, over 100,000 refugees have come to the United States from African nations.

¹ This figure includes individuals reporting Black or African American race alone. It does not include individuals who also identify as Hispanic or who indicate two or more races.