Prison incarceration rates for the truly proletarian were equal across race
Evidence
The issue most relevant for this study is the operation of the color line within the prison. While Negroes were nearly four times as likely as whites to go to prison, the disparity was not so great when allowance is made for social class. Virtually the entire black population fell into those groups from which the prisoners were drawn, compared to one-third of the whites. Of those belonging to what may be called the true proletariat, one out of twelve men, roughly the same proportion among black and white, was putting in his stint in prison, as part of the unfree labor force. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 171
Categorization
- XREF: Class-based (not race-based) imprisonment parity ties into the reader’s broader question of when observable racial disparities reflect real class structure versus manufactured categories. — connects to: Racial incarceration disparities persist even after controlling for arrest rates — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 841; Jail incarceration rates fell for Black and Hispanic people but rose for Whites, 2005-2017 — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 621; Mass incarceration stemmed from policy changes, not crime or racial drug differences — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 1090
Broader Connections
- Racial incarceration disparities persist even after controlling for arrest rates
#complicates(0.78) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 841 - Mass incarceration stemmed from policy changes, not crime or racial drug differences
#qualifies(0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1090 - Jail incarceration rates fell for Black and Hispanic people but rose for Whites, 2005-2017
#complicates(0.72) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 621