Title: Five things everyone should know about US incarceration | US & Canada | Al Jazeera
Headings: Five things everyone should know about US incarceration
OPINION
Five things everyone should know about US incarceration

Content: African Americans are six times more likely to be incarcerated than a white person and non-white Latinos are almost three times more likely to be incarcerated, according to the Pew Center on the States. Incarceration hits hardest at young black and Latino men without high school education. An astounding 11 percent of black men, aged between 20 and 34, are behind bars. Much of the racial disparity is a result of the US’ war on drugs – started by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. By 1988, blacks were arrested on drug charges at five times the rate of whites. By 1996, the rate of drug admissions to state prison for black men was 13 times greater than the rate for white men. This is despite the fact that African Americans use drugs at roughly the same rate as white Americans. 4. Mass incarceration is expensive: Imprisoning people is not cheap.