Incarceration Trends in America

From 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America quadrupled-from roughly 500,000 to 2. million
people
!oday, the "# i$ 5% of the &orld population and ha$ 25% of 'orld pri$oner$.
(ombining the number of people in pri$on and )ail 'ith tho$e under parole or probation $uper*i$ion, 1 in e*er y 1
adult$, or .2 percent of the population i$ under $ome form of correctional control
Racial Disparities in Incarceration
African American$ no' con$titute nearly 1 million of the total 2. million incarcerated population
African American$ are incarcerated at nearly $i+ time$ the rate of 'hite$
!ogether, African American and ,i$panic$ compri$ed 58% of all pri$oner$ in 2008, e*en though African American$ and
,i$panic$ ma-e up appro+imately one quarter of the "# population
According to "nloc-ing America, if African American and ,i$panic$ 'ere incarcerated at the $ame rate$ of 'hite$,
today.$ pri$on and )ail population$ 'ould decline by appro+imately 50%
/ne in $i+ blac- men had been incarcerated a$ of 2001. 0f current trend$ continue, one in three blac- male$ born today
can e+pect to $pend time in pri$on during hi$ lifetime
1 in 100 African American 'omen are in pri$on
1ation'ide, African-American$ repre$ent 22% of )u*enile arre$t$, 33% of youth 'ho are detained, 32% of the youth
'ho are )udicially 'ai*ed to criminal court, and 58% of the youth admitted to $tate pri$on$ 4(enter on 5u*enile and (riminal
5u$tice6.
Drug Sentencing Disparities
About 13 million &hite$ and 2.2 million African American$ report u$ing an illicit drug
5 time$ a$ many &hite$ are u$ing drug$ a$ African American$, yet African American$ are $ent to pri$on for drug
offen$e$ at 10 time$ the rate of &hite$
African American$ repre$ent 12% of the total population of drug u$er$, but 8% of tho$e arre$ted for drug offen$e$, and
59% of tho$e in $tate pri$on for a drug offen$e.
African American$ $er*e *irtually a$ much time in pri$on for a drug offen$e 458.7 month$6 a$ 'hite$ do for a *iolent
offen$e 421.7 month$6. 4#entencing 8ro)ect6
Contributing Factors
0nner city crime prompted by $ocial and economic i$olation
(rime9drug arre$t rate$: African American$ repre$ent 12% of monthly drug u$er$, but compri$e 2% of per$on$
arre$ted for drug po$$e$$ion
;<et tough on crime; and ;'ar on drug$; policie$
=andatory minimum $entencing, e$pecially di$paritie$ in $entencing for crac- and po'der cocaine po$$e$$ion
0n 2002, blac-$ con$tituted more than 80% of the people $entenced under the federal crac- cocaine la'$ and $er*ed
$ub$tantially more time in pri$on for drug offen$e$ than did 'hite$, de$pite that fact that more than 29 of crac- cocaine u$er$ in
the ".#. are 'hite or ,i$panic
;!hree #tri-e$;9habitual offender policie$
>ero !olerance policie$ a$ a re$ult of percei*ed problem$ of $chool *iolence? ad*er$e affect on blac- children.
5% of blac- children grade$ 7-12 ha*e been $u$pended or e+pelled at $ome point in their $chool career$ compared to
20% of ,i$panic$ and 15% of 'hite$
Effects of Incarceration
5ail reduce$ 'or- time of young people o*er the ne+t decade by 25-0 percent 'hen compared 'ith arre$ted youth$
'ho 'ere not incarcerated
5ail$ and pri$on$ are recogni@ed a$ $etting$ 'here $ociety.$ infectiou$ di$ea$e$ are highly concentrated
8ri$on ha$ not been pro*en a$ a rehabilitation for beha*ior, a$ t'o-third$ of pri$oner$ 'ill reoffend
Exorbitant Cost of Incarceration: Is it Worth It
About A70 billion dollar$ are $pent on correction$ yearly
8ri$on$ and )ail$ con$ume a gro'ing portion of the nearly A200 billion 'e $pend annually on public $afety
Iceberg Slim (used to be an ex pimp) wrote a book call Trick Baby: The story of a hite !egro"# This $ery book re$eals one of the most effecti$e ways that the
go$ernment% aimed to separate black people as well as control them# &t the time% the idea was about to be implemented# 'any years later (for those who ha$e
read it) it can be seen that the methods of the ideas were effecti$e indeed# It is still ongoing#
It is important to remember that (obert Becks"s (Iceberg Slim) books were based on real life experiences and the many people he encountered# These
re$ealations begins when hite )olk (the main character) meets a racist father and friends who were part of the go$ernment#
hite )olk is mixed race but looks white so they mistook him for a white man and pro*ected all the racist remarks and schemes until he couldn"t take it no more#
The daughter of the man% who hite )olk was going out with was also a racist and despised blacks so much that hite )olk intentionally went out with her% slept
with her and did e$erything he could to instil the negro in him in her life# +e did it to teach her a lesson but also started to fall in lo$e# ,o not sleep on this book#
- See more at: http:..www#brotherhoodofthegame#com.brotherhood.brotherhood-watch.dr-claud-anderson-powernomics-history-/0/.1sthash#23m4$xm5#dpuf