Race and Incarceration

 

You might know . . .

Mass incarceration is a major problem in the United States.

But maybe you’ve never thought about . . .

People of color are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Racial stereotyping, racial profiling, and a high concentration of police in communities of color all contribute to a higher percentage of people of color cycling in and out of the criminal justice system. Greater rates of poverty in com-munities of color lead to survival crimes. Collateral consequences—such as employers refusing to hire and landlords refusing to rent to people with a criminal history, as well as the denial of public benefits—exacerbate the problem and create cycles of disadvantage.

“So many aspects of the old Jim Crow are suddenly legal again once you’ve been branded a felon. And so it seems that in America we haven’t so much ended racial caste, but simply redesigned it.”

Michelle Alexander

In the United States, almost 693 people in every 100,000 (or about 1 in 144) are incarcerated.

Source: The Prison Policy Initiative

 

Black people are incarcerated at significantly higher rates (1 in 43) than Latinx people (1 in 134) and white people (1 in 242).

Source: The Sentencing Project

The incarceration rate in the United States greatly surpasses other countries. For example, Russia (which has the sixth-highest rate) incarcerates 1 in 220 people, and India (which has one of the lowest rates) incarcerates 1 in 3,030 people.

Source: The Prison Policy Initiative

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO
  • Educate yourself about mass incarceration. You can start by reading Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, by Douglas A. Blackmon, or by watching the documentary 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, which is available on Netflix.
  • Join advocacy groups that focus on abolishing mass incarceration. See page 143 for a helpful guide to choosing an organization to support.
  • Contact your state and local representatives to push for repeal of discriminatory laws, including unequal sentencing laws. See page 145 for a helpful guide to contacting your representatives.
  • Volunteer at a nonprofit organization that assists people with reentry after incarceration.
  • Start or join a prison ministry at your church.

Currently, about 2.2 million people are in prisons and jails in the United States. The incarceration rate has been soaring higher since the 1970s.

Source: The Sentencing Project

 

REFLECTION & JOURNAL SPACE