A Brief Note On Race And Class Inequality

The unfortunate truth of incarceration during the era of mass imprisonment is that African Americans are seven times more likely to be incarcerated than whites. Blacks were more likely than whites to go to prison, at least since the 1920’s (Western 2006: 4). By analyzing the rates of prison admission for blacks and whites at different levels of education, it shows that class inequalities in imprisonment increased as the economic status of low-education men deteriorated. Among young black men, particularly those with little schooling, the level of incarceration was increasingly high. So, why is it that young African American men are incarcerated at much higher rates than their counterparts?

The idea of “social classes” is predisposed as an awkward subject among Americans; therefore it is rarely talked about because it makes people uncomfortable. Generally when interviewed, people claim there are no classes in the area where they live (Fussell). Class and status are two completely different things because status associates a range of things and class is simply a unit (Goldschmidt). Americans often give away their class merely by the criteria they use to define what the word “class” means (Fussell). The United States’ ideology of a classless society has changed immensely over time. In modern-day America social class is concerned in everything from the diversity of citizens, mobility, and political issues.

Racial inequality in the American criminal justice system has a strong effect of many realms of society such as the family life, and employment. Education and race seem to be the most decisive factors when deciding who goes to jail and what age cohort has the greatest percentage chance of incarceration. Going to prison no longer affects just the individual who committed the crime. Instead, the family and community left behind gain a new burden by one individual's actions. The United States still has a large disparity between Whites and Blacks and now a growing Hispanic population. This racial disparity in the educational

The criminal justice system across the country is designed to punish and strive to rehabilitate those who have committed offenses against the law. Compared to some of the harshest regimes in the world, the United States has a harsh history of mass incarceration. American prisons maintain nearly 25 percent of the world’s prison population. Of the nearly 2.3 million incarcerated, 1 million are African Americans (NAACP). The poverty-stricken in America, especially those who are persons of color, face a greater risk of incarcerated for minor offenses than their white counterparts. People charged and or convicted of crimes are overwhelmingly poor. The Prison Policy Initiative finds that incarcerated people have a median annual income of $19,185 prior to their incarceration which is 41% less than that of non-incarcerated individuals of a similar age (“Prisons of Poverty”). Both race and socio-economic status plays a critical role in the inequality that takes place in the criminal justice systems.

Imprisonment is more common in some social groups than others and makes it easier for racial groups to fall into that stereotype. It becomes more widely expected for groups such as Black males and even Hispanics when they live in the low income communities. At some point one in three Black males and one in six Hispanics will be incarcerated at some point in their life (Berg, & DeLisi, 2006). Nationwide, African American men are confined at 9.6 times the rate of White men.

America has the highest prevalence of jailing its citizens. Nearly 2.3 million Americans are behind bars or nearly one percent of the adult population at any given time (Campbell, Vogel, & Williams, 2015). As of 2014, African Americans make up 34% of the incarcerated population. As a result, a disproportionate amount of African American youth will experience a parent’s incarceration. Research has shown that children of incarcerated parents experience emotional problems, socioeconomic problems, and cognitive disturbances (Miller, 2007). In this paper, I will discuss the impact of mass incarceration in the African American community and its effect on African American children.

The trend of African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 has seen a dramatic increase of incarceration. Attention has been focusing on areas of housing, education, and healthcare but the most prominent problem for African American males is the increase in the incarceration rate. African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 incarceration rate has been thought, by many, to be caused by economic factors such as under employment or unemployment, poor housing, lack of education, and lack of healthcare. Yet, others believe it is due to the imbalance of minorities within the criminal justice system, such as judges, lawyers, and lawmakers.

"Black men are seven times likely to go to prison than are white men; black women are eight times likely to go than are white women. The lifetime likelihood of incarceration for aggregate numbers requires some getting used to. If today's imprisonment stays stable, nearly one-third of black males

African-Americans are more likely than others to have social histories that include poverty, exposure to neighborhood violence, and exposure to crime-prone role models. For example, African-American children with no prior admissions to the juvenile justice system were six times more likely to be incarcerated in a public facility than white children with the same background that were charged with the same offense. A major study sponsored by the Department of Justice in the early 1980s noted that juvenile justice system processing appears to be counterproductive, placing minority children at a disproportionately greater risk of subsequent incarceration (Deadly Statistics: A Survey of Crime and Punishment, 2000). This writer?s grandmother retired after more than thirty years as a welfare social worker for Los Angeles County. She has stated on more than occasion that the government is the main reason that most black men are in jail awaiting the death penalty today. In the sixties and early seventies, she says that women on welfare were not allowed to have men in the home, even the father of the children. These fatherless generations of men seem more prone to crime,

“The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington, D.C., our nation’s capitol, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison” (Alexander, 2012). The numbers tell the story better than words can: black people are more likely to go to prison than any other race in the United States, shown by the fact that more than 60% of the prison population is composed of people of color (The Sentencing Project, 2016). These statistics can be traced back to several different cause, including the Era of Jim Crow and the War on Drugs, both of which led to higher policing in minority areas.

The Mass Incarceration in the United States is a major topic of discussion in our society and has raised many questions about our criminal justice system. There are few topics disputed as much in criminal justice as the relationship between race, ethnicity, and criminal outcomes. Specifically, the large disparities that minorities face regarding incarceration in our country. Minorities such as Hispanics and African Americans are sentenced at far higher rates than their white counterparts. There are multiple factors that influence this such as the judicial system, racial profiling by law enforcement, and historical biases (Kamula, Clark-Coulson, Kamula, 2010). Additionally, the defendants race was found to be highly associated with either a jail or prison sentence; with the “odds increasing 29 percent for black defendants, and 44 percent for Hispanic defendants” (King, Johnson, McGeever, 2010).

The Absence of Black Men in Their Children's’ Lives In today’s society it is becoming more frequent that black men are absent from their children's lives. The major cause of the absence of these black men are due to mass incarceration from crimes such as drugs, felonies, murder, and police brutality. Each day around the world, there’s an abundance of black men entering the jails and prisons resulting in mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is a controversial issue that is being talked about daily nationwide and how it affects communities and the people around the world.

Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive luxuries, cars, and houses.

Social Injustice in Prison Systems in the United States The United States makes up 5% of the world population, yet somehow houses 25% of the world’s prison population (Incarceration). In the United States, people are incarcerated at a much higher rate than other countries because of social disparity. African American males in their mid 20s living in the U.S. with little money, little schooling, and little work experience are most likely to be sought after, not only because of the crimes they have committed, but because of the inferences made about them and the prejudice against them. In the United States prison system, there is major discrimination within the population of inmates and those arrested based upon their race, gender, and economic opportunities, leading to instability and inequality throughout the prison system. Racial injustice is perhaps the most common bigotry among citizens in the United States because of the history between several races and because of narrow-mindedness within the population.

of society’s inequality can be attributed to the class status of a particular group, which has