"On December 31, 2005, there were 2,193,798 people in U.S. prisons and jails. The United States incarcerates a greater share of its population, 737 per 100,000 residents, than any other country on the planet. But when you break down the statistics you see that incarceration is not an equal opportunity punishment.

U.S. incarceration rates by race, June 30, 2006:

Whites: 409 per 100,000
Latinos: 1,038 per 100,000
Blacks: 2,468 per 100,000
Gender is an important "filter" on the who goes to prison or jail, June 30, 2006:

Females: 134 per 100,000
Males: 1,384 per 100,000
Look at just the males by race, and the incarceration rates become even more frightening, June 30, 2006:

White males: 736 per 100,000
Latino males: 1,862 per 100,000
Black males: 4,789 per 100,000
If you look at males aged 25-29 and by race, you can see what is going on even clearer, June 30, 2006:

For White males ages 25-29: 1,685 per 100,000.
For Latino males ages 25-29: 3,912 per 100,000.
For Black males ages 25-29: 11,695 per 100,000. (That's 11.7% of Black men in their late 20s.)"

And people wonder.