Consequently, it is impossible to know exactly how many individuals were in prison starting in 1990. However, the 1990, 2000, and 2010 censuses lump all of these institutions into one category. Prior to 1990, the census differentiates between correctional, mental, and elderly/handicapped institutions. ![]() In my analysis, Other is comprised of Asian, Native American, and Other RACESING responses. RACESING translates multiple-race responses into their most likely single-race categories (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or Other) to make race consistent and comparable across US history. ![]() ![]() I used a variable created by IPUMS, RACESING, to establish Black, White, or Other racial categories for prisoners. Black men make up such a greater fraction of prison population than total population that it is impossible to measure the proportions meaningfully on the same scale. Alaska and Hawaii are excluded prior to 1960.Īlthough Figures 2 and 3 and Figures 4 and 5 compare related proportions of populations, I had to give them different scales because of the huge racial gap in incarceration. All data were weighted by PERWT, the sample weight of each individual. I used 1% samples for all years except for 1970, 1980, and 2010, which were extracted from 1% state fm1, 1% metro, and American Community Survey (ACS), respectively. The data for Figures 1-5 were drawn from the Integrated Public-Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) decennial census data. Figure 6 shows Black-White segregation indices by state for 2005-9. The District of Columbia is excluded for all Figures because its abnormally high black-white population ratio skews state trends. Figures 2-5 are a series of animated maps of the United States representing various proportions of prison and total populations: Figure 2 shows black men as a fraction of all men in each state Figure 3 shows black men as a fraction of all prisoners in each state Figure 4 represents the fraction of men in prison of all men in each state Figure 5 shows the fraction of black men in prison of all black men in each state. The width of the bars represents the total prison population and the height represents the proportion of that population that is White, Black, or Other race. Figure 1 shows the change in the prison population by racial proportions over time. Since women make up such a small proportion of the prison population, I narrow my focus to the mass incarceration of men, specifically the disproportionate representation of black men in American prisons.įigures 1-5 visualize incarceration trends of American men, ages 15 to 70, on national and state scales from 1920 to 2010. I examine the racial dynamics of incarceration on a state level, asking how racism and segregation have intersected with the demographics of incarceration in the United States over the last 90 years. Societal racism in the forms of federal policy and residential segregation produce and normalize this discrimination. However, racial ideologies and practices, as well as segregation, have differed geographically throughout United States history. Worse, this system of mass incarceration operates through structures of gendered and racial discrimination which unfairly target black men. The incarceration rate in the United States today is so high that it can only be described as a pattern of mass incarceration.
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