According to the U.S. Justice Department, in 2003 about 10.4 percent of all African American men between age 25 to 29 were incarcerated as compared to 2.4 percent of Hispanic men and 1.2 percent of Non-Hispanic White men. What is going on here? Why are Black men in this age group so much more likely to be in jail than are Whites or Hispanics? Research the incidents of criminal prosecution, convictions, prison sentences and time served by race and ethnicity for all three–African American, Hispanic and White men. What factors or variables are associated with who gets involved in crime, why, and what happens to them in the criminal justice system? Also look into how many judges, lawyers and lawmakers are White compared with African Americans? What does this tell us about structured inequality?
