People of color make up the majority of the U.S. prison population and this started from 1850-1940. Values of racism and thinking of black people as less than human, although changed, are still ideologies that white supremacists believe in today. The 13th Amendment states “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This loophole technically allowed for slavery if the person was a criminal. This caused people to make black Americans criminals through new laws (Black Codes and Jim Crow) so that they could be enslaved. Due to the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, after slavery was abolished, slavery no longer existed, but people still believed that black people were criminals and deserved to be treated differently. The social systems at work for this issue include ethnicity (these groups are being discriminated against), and family (families suffer when their family is in prison). 

Three policies were initiated by President Nixon, established by Reagan, and continued by Bush and Clinton. These policies are the Tough-On-Crime, Law-And-Order, and War On Drugs. The tough-on-crime approach to crime was, according to Empower Missouri, a “strategy [that] promoted the use of mandatory minimum sentences, long prison terms, and strict zero-tolerance drug and violence policies.” One of these policies that were put in place in response to this new approach was “The War on Drugs.” This meant that drug problems were more of a crime issue than a health issue. Politicians benefited from this because they used tough-on-crime and scare tactics to get votes. They also benefited from prisoner's labor, and implementing public fear to gain power. The social systems at work include the government (funding prisons and also benefiting from prisoners’ labor), and also politics (politicians are benefiting). 

People who run prisons make a profit based on how many prisoners they have incarcerated. Also, people who are in poverty cannot afford bail. This makes it so people who have less money, no matter the severity of the crime, are incarcerated, and richer people can be out of jail. Families can suffer from economic hardship, homelessness, and other problems, and when people come out of prison, they have a hard time finding jobs or having good wages. There is also inflation on commissary items. The social systems and structures at work are the economy, institutions, and family.

Separation between white people and people of color has been in our country since the beginning. White people have always thought they are better than minorities whether it be Native Americans, black people, etc. White people see black people as not fully human, and though these ideologies have changed over the years they still systematically exist. Also, richer people can afford better opportunities than poorer people, which makes them see themselves as better.