Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress
Center for Ethics and Public Policy, UMD
Becky Pettit
November 9, 2015
For African American men without a high school diploma, being in prison or jail is more common than being employed—a sobering reality that calls into question post-Civil Rights era social gains. It is more common for black men to go to prison or jail for at least a year than to finish college or serve in the military. Incarceration is also deeply concentrated among those with low levels of education. Between one quarter and one third of black men can expect to spend at least a year in prison or jail and upwards of 60% of black men who’ve dropped out of high school spend at least a year behind bars. In this video author of Invisible Men: Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress, Becky Pettit discusses this issue of African American mass incarceration and how to address it.
