ibutable to alcohol. The map shows these data for all people 35 and over. The geographical distribution for men and women follows much the same pattern, although men are three times as likely to die of one of the 12 alcohol-induced ailments. The geographical distribution for whites and blacks follows roughly the same pattern but the rates for blacks are two and half times higher. In the late nineteenth century blacks, who were then far more abstemious than whites, were strong supporters of the temperance movement, but the movement in the South was taken over by whites bent on disenfranchising black people by any means possible, such as propagating lurid tales of drink-crazed black men raping white women. Consequently, blacks became less involved in the temperance movement, a trend that accelerated early in the twentieth century with the great migration of blacks to the North, where liquor was freely available even during Prohibition. The geographical pattern of mortality from the 12 conditions wholly caused by alcohol is partly explained by the average alcohol consumption among those who drink, which tends to be higher in the Southeast certain areas of the West and than elsewhere. In New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and in many counties in the Plains and Mountain states, the rates are high, in part, because of heavy drinking among Native Americans. Another possible contributor to high rates in the West is lower family and community support than elsewhere, as suggested by high divorce and suicide rates, low church membership, and the large number of migrants from other regions. In the South Atlantic states, black males contribute heavily to the high mortality rates, although white rates there are above average. One unexplained anomaly is the comparatively low rates in the area stretching from Kentucky through Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, to Louisiana, all states with high alcohol consumption among those who drink. There were at least fou...
