It's worth pointing out that in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD the last one to go is the black guy...
That was my first thought when I saw the thread title.
It is, however, a sad irony that Ben is, in fact, responsible for the death of everyone at the farmhouse...himself inlcuded. It is very arguable that his actions, regardless of sincerity of intention(and in mindblowing opposition to the clear protag/antag dynamic he embodies with Harry Cooper!), encourage disaster exponentially as the "night" wears on.
I had a great conversation with John Russo and Russ Streiner about this at a Chiller con some years ago. (Luckily..for me!...they are hardly A list celebs, so the crowd by their tables is usually pretty meager). They both seemed pleased with the idea that the film unfolded fairly simply on one level only to, upon a closer look, kinda fold back on presumptions the audience might make out of sheer habit.
We
did not discuss the shameful "reworkings" of NIGHT that have sullied the films legacy.