Study: Poor white kids less likely to go to prison than rich black youth

CHICAGO (FOX 32 NEWS) - A new Duke University study discovered that when it comes to incarceration rates, race trumps class in determining the likelihood of going to jail.

The study which followed a group of youth from 1979 into adulthood determined poor whites are almost four times less likely to be incarcerated than rich blacks.

Roughly 2.7 percent of the poorest white young people ultimately went to prison, whereas about 10 percent of affluent black youths in 1985 would eventually go to prison

Maudlyne Ihijerika, Urban Affairs Reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times, joins the set to break down the numbers and discuss how racial disparity can have a drastic impact on affecting economic outcomes.