Mass Incarceration of Black People

Between 1980 to 2015 the number of people incarcerated increased from 500,000 people to 2.2 million, according to (NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet). In 2014, African Americans made up 2.3 million or 34% of the total 6.8 million people in correctional facilities. African Americans were are incarcerated 5 times the rate of white men. As for women the imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women. Nationwide, African American children represent 32% for children who are arrested, 42% who are detained, and 52% of those children cases were waived to criminal court. One of the factors is the inner city crime prompted by social and economic isolation. The poverty and social norm of gangs in these areas cause young black Americans to "fall into the wrong crowd." The effects of this is they now have a criminal record which will reduce the likelihood of a call back or job offer by about 50%. This is about twice as large for people of color. In order to change this, in my opinion we need to have clubs and activities for minorities to get help. We need to have a study center where kids can go after school to get help with school work and introduce them to things that they like and want to pursue as a career. We need to minimize the time these young kids are on the street because that leads to them being involved in gangs. Which causes more crime and these young black men becoming a social outcast in society.