Race has had an extraordinary impact on American history, including the history of crime and punishment, which has left a legacy of enormous disproportion of people of color in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. This disproportion is in large part responsible for the record high rates of American incarceration, which has had devastating effects on individuals and com- munities alike. Although data are imperfect, all indicators point to a striking and accumulated disadvantage in corrections for members of minority groups. Stereotypes and ingrained prejudices form a burden for African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and sectors of the API population, among others. The cultural

differences in these groups and the language barriers they face are rarely addressed or accommodated in correctional facilities, where staff diversity is lacking as is culturally competent programming. Immigrants tend to suffer additional consequences merely because of their immigration status. Native Americans are subject to maltreatment and are incarcerated in facilities that are outside official scrutiny and accountability. Segregation policies within prison walls tend to exacerbate racial tensions and gang activities. Racial disparity is a complex issue with many causes that stem from issues of race in U.S. society. A great deal more needs to be done to acknowledge and address the nature and scope of racial problems in corrections.

• To grasp the nature and extent of racial disparity in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
• To understand some of the historical roots of that disparity.
• To be able to name several ways that race intersects with other key social factors.
• To be able to explain the issue of disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in terms of relative incarceration rates.
• To grasp the concept of accumulation of disproportion throughout the justice system process.
• To understand some of the issues of race specific to African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Latinos in the justice system.
• To be capable of discussing the intersection of race, immigration, and the criminal justice system.
• To begin to understand the social context in which racial disproportion and mass incarceration have arisen.
• To grasp how issues of race in society permeate the boundaries of custody facilities and how they manifest in such facilities.