THe NEw Penal System
In the sport of Track and Field, A race can only be fairly evaluated if both runners begin the race the distance from finish line. Otherwise, we cannot clearly see who is the fastest. Yet, in the case of economic classes in america we hold everyone to the same standard when not all are equally equipped. Minorities in America are disproportionately incarcerated at astounding rates. In more concise and simpler words, “We’re punishing the poor for being poor.”
Over the past half a century, there has been a significant change in american prisons. In the beginning of the 20th century, the number of people imprisoned in the united states remained stable. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that this number began to increase as it would do for the next 30 years. By the 2000’s, about 1 of every 100 americans in the adult population were imprisoned. As of today, roughly 3% of the adult population is serving time in state and federal prisons.
This huge change in the imprisonment of citizens has gone without uproar. This shift has gone unnoticed because the growing number of prisoners are drawn from impecunious and segregated minority communities. Blacks in the United States are imprisoned at more than five times the rate of Whites, and Hispanics are locked up at nearly double the rate of Whites. The justice system in America is undoubtedly an attestation to the flaws in our democracy.
Blacks are still a minority in America, making up only 13% of the population. While they account for so little of the population on the outside of prisons, the make up 37% of the prison population. Among black men under the age of 21, one of every nine are in prison. In the 1970’s and 80’s, crack cocaine began its deadly and prolonged assault on black, impoverished communities. It first began appearing in large cities such as Los Angeles and Miami, then migrating to others like Chicago later on. The illegal use of crack cocaine caused the government to take actions against the epidemic leading to the Federal Anti-Drug Abuse act of 1986. The government’s actions against such things became known as “The War on Drugs”.
“A war on drugs is a war on us,” says an elderly resident of Compton, Los Angeles. While it can be debated that the U.S. conspired against poor black communities, no one has proven this claim. The increase in police patrol can be blamed on the mass amounts of illegal drug use. Crack cocaine became apart of impoverished, inner city culture whether it was being sold or used. Increasing police patrol throughout inner cities left the streets barren of black men, and black children fatherless.
From 1980 to 2008, the United States number of incarcerated people grew from 500,00 to 2.3 million. Although the U.S. accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, it has 25% of the world’s prisoners. These statistics make the U.S. not only a culprit of mass incarceration of Blacks, but mass incarceration in general.