Scholars uncover "biggest racial gap" among violent offenders in U.S. prisons

SYDNEY, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Despite a decline in the drug imprisonment gap between Black and white Americans, the biggest racial disparity now exists among people incarcerated for violent felony offenses, two U.S. scholars of criminal justice have said.

"The Council on Criminal Justice report shows that states incarcerated Black adults for violent offenses at a rate over six times that of white adults by 2019, the most recent year for which offense-specific data is available," wrote Thaddeus L. Johnson and Natasha N. Johnson of Georgia State University in an article published by the media network the Conversation on Saturday.

The scholars believed that the disparity demonstrates the structural and economic barriers that Black Americans continue to face.

According to their analysis, striking racial gaps, rooted in a legacy of structural racism, have left generations of Black people with disproportionately less wealth and education, lower access to health care, less stable housing, and differential exposure to environmental harms.

"Such factors contribute to concentrated poverty, racially segregated neighborhoods, and other community conditions tied to violent offending," said the article.