BLM Boosts Black Mental Health
False Assumption: Black Lives Matter activism and the George Floyd Racial Reckoning would improve well-being and reduce despair among black Americans.
Written by FARAgent on February 11, 2026
Blacks have long killed themselves less often than whites despite claims of oppression. Suicide rates among young blacks trailed whites by a wide margin through 2015. The gap held even as white working-class suicides climbed in deaths of despair.
Then the Great Awokening hit after George Floyd's death in 2020. Young black male suicides rose steeply from 2016 through 2021, reaching 90% of white rates by recent years. Homicides and traffic deaths for young blacks also spiked relative to whites. Fentanyl, guns, and identity politics emerged as possible factors.
Numbers faded in 2024 as the Racial Reckoning receded. Critics tie the surge to BLM-era pressures. A study found identity politics linked to lower well-being among progressives. Questions mount about whether anti-racism campaigns harmed the groups they targeted.
People Involved
- In the midst of the Great Awokening, George Yancey, a sociologist, stood out as a voice of caution. He warned that identity politics could lower well-being, especially among progressives, and that it mediated the link between progressive ideology and poor mental health. [1][2]
- At the same time, Steve Sailer, an analyst, highlighted the BLM-era increases in black deaths that others overlooked. [1] These figures acted as cassandras, pointing to patterns that challenged the prevailing optimism about anti-racism activism.
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“Regression analysis with data from the Baylor Religion Survey indicates that identity political variables, but not a desire for higher government spending, are consistently negatively related to lower well-being and mediate the ability of progressive political ideology to predict lower levels of well-being.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
“I’m pretty much the only analyst who is concerned about how the temporary triumph of Black Lives Matter got so many of my fellow American citizen black lives killed.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
Organizations Involved
The organization Black Lives Matter gained prominence during this period, achieving temporary triumphs. Critics argue that its rise correlated with increases in black suicides, homicides, and traffic deaths. [1] This connection raised growing questions about whether the group's activism truly boosted black mental health, as institutional incentives pushed the narrative forward despite the emerging data.
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“All these problems seem to be fading in 2024 as the George Floyd Racial Reckoning gets memoryholed, but they are all still substantially worse than before the Black Lives Matter era. Heckuva job, BLM!”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
The Foundation
Social scientists long assumed that systemic racism drove black despair, positioning anti-racism activism as a potential cure. Historical data showed blacks with lower suicide rates than whites, creating a paradox where oppression seemed to spare them relative despair. [1] Proponents argued that identity politics would liberate marginalized groups, yet evidence began to suggest it correlated with decreased well-being, particularly among young progressives during the Great Awokening. [1][2] This foundation appeared solid at first, grounded in studies of inequality, but mounting evidence challenged its core claims.
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“One of the perennial paradoxes of American social science has been that blacks, despite all the oppression they suffer due to systemic racism, kill themselves less often than do privileged whites.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
“Recent events connected to a “Great Awokening” suggest that identity politics may correlate to a decrease in well-being particularly among young progressives”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
How It Spread
The idea spread rapidly during the Great Awokening, which began around 2014 and intensified with the George Floyd events in 2020. The War on Racism turned into a national obsession, woven into BLM narratives and the broader Racial Reckoning. [1] Media outlets amplified these stories, while academic circles and funding bodies rewarded alignment with the cause. Dissenters faced social pressure, sustaining the assumption that such activism would reduce black despair, even as critics argued otherwise.
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“just when the War on Racism became a national obsession during the Great Awokening / Racial Reckoning the gap between black and white suicide rates has closed dramatically.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
Harm Caused
During the BLM era from 2016 through 2021, young black male suicide rates climbed sharply, nearing 90 percent of white rates for those aged 15 to 34. [1] Homicide rates for young black men spiked as well, reaching 16 to 20 times those of whites, with notable increases during the Racial Reckoning. [1] Black traffic fatalities also rose relative to whites starting in 2012, peaking in the BLM years before declining by 2024. [1] Growing questions surround whether these trends stemmed from the activism, as critics point to the data as evidence of unintended despair.
▶ Supporting Quotes (3)
“the young black male suicide rate fell from 1999 through 2009, rose slowly in 2010 through 2015, and rose steeply from 2016 through 2021.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
“Young black men died by homicide (mostly at the hands of other young black men) around 16 or 17 times as much from 1999 to 2019 ... and then around 20 times as much during the George Floyd Racial Reckoning.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
“From 2012 on, young black men have had a traffic fatality problem relative to young white men, and the same for suicide from 2016 on.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
Downfall
By the early 2020s, CDC WONDER mortality data revealed the steep rise in young black suicides from 2016 to 2021, prompting critics to challenge the assumed benefits of the Racial Reckoning. [1] This evidence fueled debates, with mounting arguments that BLM activism might not have improved black well-being as expected. The conversation remains contested, as dissenting voices highlight these patterns against the ongoing orthodoxy.
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“Back in 1999, the first year for which the CDC’s WONDER system of mortality statistics displays data, black males age 15-34 died by suicide 73% as white males of the same age. By 2015, the ratio was down to 53% as much.”— Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?
Sources
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[1]
Why did black suicides soar during the BLM era?reputable_journalism
- [2]