This article is part of a series in celebration of a new, dynamic voice in Black America: the NUBIANO Exchange. Brace yourself for the NUBIANO experience. 
by Lisa Swanson
During the last week in February, the Pew Center on the States released a report entitled One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008. “For the first time,” the report stated, “More than one in every 100 adults is now confined in an American jail or prison.”
Demographic analysis of the prison populations revealed enormous racial disparities: while the incarceration rate for white adult men was one in 106, and one in 36 for Hispanic adult men, the incarceration rate for black men was found to be one in fifteen. Among black males ages 20 to 34, the incarceration rate jumps to one in every nine. Incarceration rates for women were similarly slanted, with black women ages 35 to 39 three and a half times more likely to be in jail than white women of the same age.
Seeing these numbers, a reader might be led to conclude that black males commit more crimes than Hispanic and white males. Or, a more thoughtful reader may believe that such high incarceration rates are primarily the result of poverty. After all, according to the most recent US Census, blacks have the highest poverty rate at 24%. Both of these responses neglect a very important piece of the puzzle.
The truth is that the United States criminal justice system often discriminates against black people at multiple levels. Take, for example, the infamous disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine sentencing, which has been responsible for disproportionately punishing people of color for over twenty years.
In the mid-1980s, crack began to appear in American cities. A new form of cocaine manufactured from powder, crack was sold in hard rocks which could be heated and smoked. Crack cocaine was more generally affordable than powder cocaine, and spread rapidly through urban areas.
As crack gained popularity, so did rumors that crack cocaine was stronger and more dangerous than powder cocaine. Crack was believed to be instantly addictive, incite violent behavior, and cause women to give birth to “crack babies”—infants who suffered from premature delivery, smaller heads, low birth weights, decreased motor abilities, and behavioral difficulties. Two decades later, these myths have been debunked. But at the time, many Americans were anxious about crack’s perceived ultra-harmful effects on society.
Article comments
1 - Doug Hunter
You are so misinformed it's not even funny. The reason more blacks are in jail is because they commit mroe violent crimes, period. Also, the violence is the reason for the disparity in sentencing. Urban violence associated with gangs is very well documented, white suburban cocaine users aren't doing drive bys and committing murders for the most part. It's nice to see someone so naive on these issues, so fresh off from the indoctrination camps that pass for 'education' in this country. Congrats on your passing score in diversity and gender studies.
2 - Dr Dreadful
An excellent and well-argued piece, Lisa. I don't think you analyzed the sentencing disparity by any means fully, although perhaps that wasn't your intent in such a short article.
I'm amazed that you haven't had more comments on this, a topic which has stimulated much vigorous and vehement debate in the past. The Culture section does seem to be a sort of literary Siberia here on BC, which might explain it...
I wouldn't pay too much attention to Doug, above. He does make one or two good points, although they are rather lost amidst the hail of dogmatic rage, sarcasm and personal insult that is his stock-in-trade.
It's a strange thing that if you were to witness, in isolation, any one criminal trial of a black defendant in modern America, you would probably be convinced from what you had seen that it had been conducted fairly. It's only when you step back and look at the broader picture that you see the disparity. With the inevitable few exceptions, I don't think the individuals who work in the justice system act in a racially-motivated way: which is why, I'm sure, you were careful to speak about systematized racism.
3 - bliffle
Aside from the racial disparities, I'm amazed that 1 in 100 Americans are in prison! What's going on here? Are americans just more felonious than anyone anywhere anytime?
I don't think so.I think that it's just that the demands of modern US society are so great that more people desperately commit crimes.
Is this the failure of our carrot and stick society? Where we seek to get corporation execs to perform by offering big tax incentives and subsidies and we threaten everyone else with prison?
Is this the result of class warfare as much as racism?
Or are we all just bad, and do we all need to be punished, and so far we're only up to 1% of quota?