According to a
Times article on a recent
Pew report (PDF), more than 1% of US adults are incarcerated. That's disturbing, but 1 is a small number, so it's easy to shrug off. This, however, is harder:
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34.
More than 10% of black male young adults in the US are in jail?! Good lord, what does that say about race in our society? It certainly seems to help explain all of those
fatherless black children that Bill Cosby likes to talk about. I think we have larger problems than the war in Iraq or the mortgage crisis...
1 comment:
Even at 1 in 9, chances are if you pull a random guy off the street he won't be in jail.
=)
Post a Comment