Incarceration

Incarceration

Because of redlining, African Americans were forced to live in poorer neighborhoods. This meant that there was an increase in crime, due to the lack of wealth. Because of the increase in crime, police were more strict and had a more dominant presence in African American communities. This heavily contributed to racial profiling, as many policemen perceived  African Americans as threats, rather than citizens of the same communities. This has been something that has haunted the nation for decades, as we are all familiar with cases such as Rodney King, Philando Castile, and Mike Brown. Regardless if you think that the police in these cases were innocent, nevertheless cases such as these along with regular occasions of racial profiling have heavily damaged the relationship between law enforcement and the African American community. Although it is not the main factor, racial profiling does contribute to the unfair incarceration rates of African Americans. The Criminal Justice system in the U.S is very unjust, as a research company said “Black men receive prison sentences 19.5 percent longer than those of white men who committed similar crimes, a 2013 report by the United States Sentencing Commission found” (Goyette). These statistics show part of the cruel reality faced by many incarcerated African Americans. They face longer prison sentences than whites, and the longer time they spend in prison, the longer they are not in the workplace. Their absence does not only prevent them from entering the workplace, it also prevents them from having a positive influence in their children's life, as the child is without a parent. Another source said that “Previous studies of racial wage gaps only examined those in work. That understates the problem because a staggering number of prime-age black men are not—35% compared in 2014 with 17% of whites. Much of this difference is due to mass incarceration. Nearly 8% of prime-age black men did not work because they were institutionalized—the vast majority in prison—compared with 1.5% of whites” (The Wage Gap between White and Black). This quote shows how big of a role the diffrences in incarceration rates play in the gap, as it is the reason that nearly eight percent of prime-age black men don't work.  Even after incarceration, many convicts find it extremely hard to get a job, and oftentimes they resort to crime to get money, as 76% of convicts return to prison within 5 years of their release (VOX).