1.5 Million Black Men Are ‘Missing’

An analysis of U.S. Census data by the New York Times shows that about 1.5 million black men are "missing" from everyday life, due to a combination of disproportionate incarceration, early death, and overseas deployment. Only 83 of them are around for every 100 black women, compared to a 99 to 100 ratio among whites. The darkest finding, perhaps, is that this disparity is most pronounced in Ferguson, Missouri—where the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in August set off a nationwide conversation about police brutality. There, as many as 40 black men are missing there per 100 black women. North Charleston, the South Carolina city where a cop shot and killed another unarmed black man earlier this month, is missing a quarter of its black men.