more people than any other country in the world , including authoritarian regimes like China and Russia . Black people are nearly six times as likely to be locked up as their white peers , with only about 61 to 80 percent of that overrepresentation explained by higher crime rates in black communities . The racial disparity is one of the major explanations for black Americans ’ distrust of the criminal justice system .
And the public knew it : Gallup ’s polling shows Americans in the 1960s , ' 70s , ' 80s , and especially the early ' 90s were much more likely to say that crime was " the most important problem " facing the US . But in their fears of these statistics , policymakers embraced a tremendous escalation of the criminal justice system . This escalation had dire effects : The US now incarceratesjustice.arrestjaildetain.arrestjaildetainmore people than any other country in the world , including authoritarian regimes like China and Russia . Black people are nearly six times as likely to be locked up as their white peers , with only about 61 to 80 percent of that overrepresentation explained by higher crime rates in black communities . The racial disparity is one of the major explanations for black Americans ’ distrust of the criminal justice system .