"AFRICAN AMERICANS
African Americans, who constitute approximately 13.3% of the U.S. population, claim ancestry from Africa and the Caribbean as well as many parts of Central and South America. Persons born and raised in the United States and persons born in South America or the Caribbean before emigrating here share common racial and cultural characteristics, but may differ widely in their perspectives on other factors (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). The arrival of Africans onto the shores of America stands apart from all other cultural, ethnic, and racial groups who began new lives in this country. While every other group arrived voluntarily, Africans were uprooted and brought to America involuntarily as slaves. This cultural upheaval has had profound sociocultural, economic, and psychological effects on the experience of African Americans ever since, resulting in traumatic cultural losses and significant disparities in access to education, employment, health care, and financial services. The racism inherent in the practice of slavery has, hundreds of years later, continued to subtly shape policies and practices while limiting access to the ladder of success.
African American Populations
As of 2017, there were roughly 43.6 million African Americans, or 13.4% of the United States Population (US Census Bureau). Rates of poverty, family dissolution, unemployment, incarceration, ill health, and shortened lifespan are much greater for African Americans than their White counterparts (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2001). The median household income for Black non-Hispanics is $36,898 compared to White non-Hispanics at $62,950 (U.S. Census Bureau, cited in Proctor, Semega, & Kollar, 2016). Substance use and use disorders among African Americans"