There are many inequalities in the justice system that need to be brought to light and addressed. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than women and people of other races. There are some steps that can and should be taken to reduce racial disparity in the justice system. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of a racial or ethnic group within the enforcement system is greater than the proportion of the group in the general population. The cause of this disparity varies and may include differences in levels of criminal activity, law enforcement emphasis on particular communities, legislative policies, and/or decision making by one or more persons at some level in the criminal justice system. According to statistics since the early 1970s there was a 500% increase in the number of people incarcerated with a total average of 2.2 million people behind bars. The rising rate of incarcerated people has also led to an increasingly disproportionate racial makeup. Jails and prisons have a high rate of incarcerated African Americans with an average of 900,000 of the 2.2 million incarcerated being African Americans. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1 in 6 African American males has been incarcerated at some point since 2001. In theory, if this trend continues, an estimated 1 in 3 black males born could spend time in prison and some moments of his life. One in nine African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently incarcerated. Although the incarceration rate for women is considerably lower than that for men, African American women are incarcerated...... middle of paper ......King, R., & Mauer, M., (2007). The sentencing project. Uneven justice: State incarceration rates by race and ethnicity. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdfThe Sentencing Project. (2008). Reducing racial disparity in the criminal justice system: A handbook for practitioners and policymakers. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_reducingracialdisparity.pdfNew Century Foundation. (2005). The Color of Crime: Race, Crime, and Justice in America. Retrieved from http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdfPearson Education. (2008). Arrests by Race, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004896.htmlUS Census Bureau. (2011). The statistical extract of 2012. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts_prisons.html