Frightening statistic of the day - Incarceration Rates

From Invisible Men: Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress by Becky Petit.

Five percent of white men and 28 percent of black men  born between 1975 and 1979 spent at least a year in prison before reaching  age thirty-five. The risks of spending time in prison for this birth cohort were  significantly higher among high school dropouts: 28 percent of white and 68 percent of black dropouts had spent at least a year in prison by 2009

(emphasis mine).  If this doesn't give you pause, well, it should.
But wait, it gets worse.  Check out the following stats

• > 1% of American adults is living in prison
• >3% of American adults is under some form of correctional supervision  (probation, parole, etc.)
• Shortly, >30% of black men will have served time in prison

Keep those numbers in mind as you walk around today. And remember, this isn't happening in "that bad neighborhood over on the other side of the tracks", its happening everywhere. We are incarcerating people at a rate unequaled in history, and the sheer numbers are mind-boggling.

28% of whites and 68% of black dropouts have spent at least a year in prison

This is all around you.  This is America today.