Why Is The African-American Incarceration Rate 6 Times That Of Whites?

Discussion of race in America is as old as America itself. The same could be said of crime. One of the hot topics of discussion today is the high rate of incarceration of the African American population when compared to that of other races and the possible causes.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, black males are incarcerated at a rate of 4,749 per 100,000 U.S. residents. Put in perspective, this is approximately 6 times higher than white males who are incarcerated at a rate of 708 per 100,000 residents, and 2.6 times higher than Hispanic males (Department Of Justice, 2010). In addition, black females are incarcerated at approximately 3 times the rate of white females. According to the NAACP, “African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population” (NAACP, N.D.).

Taking a look at these incarceration statistics, coupled with population statistics, nearly 1 in every 20 black male adults is in custody (prison, jails, etc.) (Prison Policy Initiative, 2014). The natural question asked after seeing such a number is “why are blacks jailed at a much higher rate than other races?” While a “Why?” sounds like a simple enough question, given this issue and the incredible number of theories surrounding the why, the question grows to great proportions and consumes many who search for answers.

The easy answer is to say that African-American citizens are incarcerated at such a high rate simply because they commit more crime than any other group of people. This theory makes sense when considering that the justice system supposedly treats everyone equally under the law. But is it really this simple?

Could it be that African-Americans who commit crime are just caught at a higher rate than other ethnicities? It’s well known that the police presence is higher among areas seen as more volatile (such as the inner cities). Are the black people caught more often simply because the police are in closer proximity to the crimes? Are crimes committed at a higher rate in those inner city areas because people are closer in proximity to each other and more likely to have conflict?

One theory, seemingly almost exclusively presented by African-Americans, is that there is a systemic problem with our criminal justice system that causes the high rate of incarceration. They typically claim that racism is to blame and that the predominantly white police force is interested in harassing and pinning crimes on blacks, while giving many whites a pass on the same offenses. One example often cited is how a white drug user might be given a warning or probation, but a similar black offender might be jailed for the same offense. The rebuttal to this of course is that there are many factors that go into making the decision to give someone a warning or probation (i.e. repeat offender, previous arrest record, etc.).

Opponents of the racism claim have theories of their own. One is that since convictions take a jury of peers, law enforcement racism wouldn’t be the problem. Rather the trial outcome is determined by a group of people reviewing the facts of the case and claim the results are usually based in fact and not race. It is also worth noting that there are many more minority law enforcement members than at any time in our history. If race was involved in the high number of African-American incarcerations, wouldn’t it make sense that the number of those incarcerations would drop as less “racist” officers are patrolling the streets?

The NAACP states that, “In 2002, blacks constituted more than 80% of the people sentenced under the federal crack cocaine laws and served substantially more time in prison for drug offenses than did whites, despite the fact that more than 2/3rds of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are white.” While this looks telling on the surface and could indicate bias, which it appears the NAACP is trying to indicate, the facts could tell quite a different story. In considering the quote above, could it be possible that the black people in question might have been dealing drugs instead of taking the drugs and that is what caused the longer prison sentences? Is it possible that whites had smaller amounts of the drugs in their possession than did blacks, causing smaller sentences?

Many people make the claim that blacks commit more crime because they’re less educated (complete less schooling, or have poorer schools with less effective teachers). It is well known that much crime is committed by those with low education completion levels. While this is an age old topic, maybe it’s time to find a solution for this in the inner cities where high school dropout rates are extremely high and in many cases seem to lead to crime. As the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King put it, “If people can go to work and go to school, and have decent morals, we’ll have less crime”. The Hill recently posted an interesting story on race and crime.

Considering all these views and facts, we’re still left with a hill to climb in knowing the exact cause of incarceration disparity in the African-American community. I believe we need to learn more about the causation of this incarceration disparity, and look for solutions.

What do you think? Why do you think blacks are incarcerated at such a high rate in comparison to whites? If there’s a problem here, how would you recommend solving it? Join the discussion!

Information References
Department Of Justice. (2010, June 23). Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009.
Retrieved September 21, 2016, from
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim09st.pdf

NAACP-Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2016,
from http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

Prison Policy Initiative. (2014, May 28). Breaking Down Mass Incarceration
in the 2010 Census. Retrieved September 22, 2016, from
http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/rates.html

Media References

Department Of Justice. (2010, June 23). Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009.
Retrieved September 21, 2016, from
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim09st.pdf

Keen Report. (2016, September 22). Prison Tower. Retrieved September 22,
2016, from
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8352/29854680075_6712a8c2b2_b.jpg

McGilchrist, R. (2007, December 10). Crime Scene. Retrieved September 22,
2016, from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shinealight/2114986957/in/photolist-
4dTRWn