Incarceration rates in the United States have increased shockingly in recent years. In 2008, one in 100 American adults was said to be behind bars, or more than 2.3 million people. Even more surprising than this high rate is the fact that African Americans have been disproportionately incarcerated, particularly low-income and poorly educated blacks. This is racialized mass incarceration. There are several reasons why racialized mass incarceration occurs and how it negatively affects poor Black communities. Black people are overrepresented in prisons. Bobo and Thompson said that in 1954, 98,000 African Americans were in prison or jail. In 2002, there was a 900% increase, 884,500 African Americans were in prison. In 2007, blacks made up 39 percent of male inmates in prisons or jails, but they make up 12 percent of the total adult male population. White men make up 36.1% of the male prison population, but they make up 65.6% of the total male population. These statistics demonstrate that racialized mass incarceration exists in the United States. There are several reasons why African Americans are discriminated against by the legal system. The main cause is inequitable protection by the law and unequal application of it. Unequal protection occurs when the legal system provides less protection to African-Americans who are victims of whites. Its enforcement is uneven because discriminatory treatment of African Americans labeled as criminal suspects is more accepted. Another reason racialized mass incarceration occurs is the high rates of poverty and unemployment among inner-city African Americans, particularly those with low education and low skill levels. Urban ghettos have been associated with the problem of social disorganization and crime. The main reason for this is the war on drugs. There is no substantial evidence that confirms that African Americans are more involved in illegal drug use than other groups. However, they are arrested more than other groups. Bobo and Thompson said nearly 34 percent of blacks are involved in drug arrests, even though only 14 percent of them are among regular users of illegal drugs. Among drug-related convictions, African-Americans represent half of the cases while only 26% of the white population is convicted. As Bobo and Thompson stated: “Illegal drug use appears to be raceless. However, incarceration on drug-related charges is something that hits African Americans in a heavily skewed way. » The war on drugs is heavily focused on cocaine and even more so on crack..