The Graphic Truth: The racial breakdown of US arrests

Criminal justice advocates often point to US incarceration rates as proof of racial disparities in policing and American courts. But many say that systematic racism is also reflected in how law enforcement targets individuals for scrutiny and subsequent arrest – the cases of Tyre Nichols and Eric Garner are but two headline-grabbing examples. Consider that, despite accounting for just 13.6% of the national population, 36% of those arrested for violent crimes in 2020 were Black. We take a look at the race profiles of people arrested for various crimes.