Statistics relating to race and incarceration in the United States of America (US) portray a criminal justice system that is alarming. In this system, non-Whites are overrepresented and are punished with severer punishment, vis--vis the Whites. In fact, the Sentencing Project had disclosed that as much as 33% of the African American males and 16% of the Latino males were more likely to be imprisoned in their lifetime, in comparison to just 6% of the White males. This disparity extends to females also, with the likelihood of being imprisoned during their lifetime being 1 in 18 for African American women, and 1 in 45 for Latino women, while being just 1 in 111 for White women(The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, 2020).

Furthermore, the Prison Policy Initiative provides racial disparity statistics on a state-wise basis. This data reveals that despite constituting just 13% of the population, African American males make up 40% of the incarcerated population. As of July 2015, 37.6% of the inmates in Federal prison were African Americans, as depicted in the monthly data of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This evident imbalance and racial disparity regarding the incarcerated has been attributed to the longstanding and firmly entrenched racial prejudice, as well as the various public policy initiatives that have ensured the proliferation of the prison population in the US. For instance, the War on Drugs policies had affected African Americans in a disproportionate manner, even though, the illicit drug use rates were more or less the same for Whites and African Americans(The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, 2020).

Question

Do you think that institutional racism played a key role in why these groups have ended up at the forefront of the incarcerated individuals. Although policies have disportionately effect the African American community, choices still lead to the involvement - which do you think that their could be a psycho/social component at play because of the deeply entrenched racism. Think about it Prof Martin