CDC Report Shows Black Children Drown at Far Higher Rates in U.S

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on Jan. 27 revealing that Black people under age 30 are 1.5 times more likely to die from drowning than white people. The disparity is greatest among children: Black youths aged 5‑9 drown 2.6 times, and those aged 10‑14 drown 3.6 times more often than white peers. Analysts link the gap to a legacy of segregation that limited access to public pools and affordable swim lessons, creating a cycle where parents who never learned to swim cannot teach their children. A 2022 Northwestern Medicine survey in Chicago found 26 % of Black parents never learned to swim and 46 % had never enrolled their children in lessons, compared with 72 % of white parents who had. Organizations such as Outdoor Afro’s “Making Waves” program are providing scholarships and partnering with groups like Black People Will Swim to expand low‑cost, culturally tailored water‑safety programs.