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Black Children Now Die by Suicide Faster Than Any US Peer Group
Bullying, racial slurs, and scarce mental-health care fuel a 144 percent jump since 2007.
Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor was just 10 when she took her own life in Utah in 2021. A Black autistic student, Izzy had told her parents she was being bullied, but the school failed to step in. Loved ones remember a bright, cheerful girl who loved school and craved friendship. It’s heartbreaking that someone so young felt suicide was her only way out.
Her parents once watched her pack a bottle of Febreze in her backpack because classmates said she smelled bad, and a teacher even made her sit at the back of the room. She told her parents that kids at school called her the n-word all the time.
When children face constant bullying over their race, it’s no wonder suicide rates are higher for Black kids. Between 2007 and 2020, suicide among Black youth ages 10–17 rose by 144%, which is the fastest climb of any group. Black preteens (8–12) now have the highest suicide rate compared with their peers of other races.
