Racism in Prison System
In today’s era, the statistics of the African American populations of prisons have changed very little, if at all. As Davis discussed in “Race, Gender, and Prison History: From the Convict Lease System to the Supermax Prison” the policies, socioeconomic inequities, and racism were all reasons the statistic of African Americans in prison was so high. These reasons can also lend support for our modern statistic of the African American population in our prison systems today. The Sentencing Project has been working towards reforms in sentencing policies, discusses racial disparities and inequalities in hopes to spread awareness, and advocates for alternatives to incarceration. As of August 2020, they report that more than 60 percent of the prison population in the U.S. is made up of people of color. Black men are specifically six times more likely to be incarcerated than white or Hispanic men. The Sentencing Project also reports that 1 in every 3 black men are likely to be incarcerated for a lifetime sentence. These statistics are extremely similar to Davis’ discussion of statistics where the African American population made up over half of the prison population and 1 in 3 black men were under a correctional system.
From the research of Davis and our modern statistics, one can understand that African Americans are historically and disproportionately affected by the U.S. criminal justice system. The racism interwoven into our justice system has been a product of racial bias and sentencing policies. The similarities between these statistics are representative of the work that must be done to get rid of the systemic racism that influences racial disparities in our prisons.
Primary source: https://canvas.ucsc.edu/courses/37339/files/3055032/download?download_frd=1
Secondary Source: https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Trends-in-US-Corrections.pdf
