American Civil Liberties Union

Each year, 176,000 Americans die as a result of racial segregation, according to a study reported in The New York Times this week. That's more than the number of people killed by strokes or in accidents each year. While the study does not describe precisely how segregation — defined as living in a neighborhood with more than 25 percent African-American population — kills, other research has noted that segregation is linked to inferior health care, inadequate access to healthy food, substandard housing, environmental conditions and lower quality schools, all of which can contribute to health problems that ultimately lead to early death.