ABSTRACT
Black death rates also exceed those of the general population in war and from disease. The rate of mortality for black soldiers in the Civil War was 40 percent higher than that for whites; similar statistics have emerged from the Vietnamese war. A different set of expectations form the secular norm, which specifies that black people should view death as part of the normal life process, as an inevitable event in a naturalistic context, occurring in the world of experience. Since academic reports are lacking, the literature of the black people will be considered, beginning with spirituals and developing though more contemporary writings. The usual interpretation of the behavior and rituals with which blacks approach death is that they represent virtually the epitome of the sacred approach. The spirituals themselves are probably the form of black literature most open to varied interpretation. Poetry written by black authors complements this discussion of the meaning of death found in the spirituals.
