Lets Talk About Race

Let's Talk About Race Nicole Nigoghossian Mass Incarceration 20200130 19 - 00 - 00

02.07.2020 - By Diane WongPlay

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The criminal justice system is perhaps the clearest example of structural racism in the United States. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and the overwhelming burden of contact with the system has fallen on communities of color, especially African Americans.4 African American adults are five times more likely to be imprisoned than white Americans.5 According to data detailed in this issue brief, African Americans are twice as likely as their white counterparts to have a family member imprisoned at some point during their childhood.6 With overall incarceration rates more than 500 percent higher than they were forty years ago, black Millennials and post-Millennials are at greater risk of contact with the system than any previous generation.7 In fact, a new CAP analysis finds that 1 in 4 black Millennials had an incarcerated loved one before they even turned 18. For those born in the early 1990s, the rate is almost 1 in 3.

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