![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nooses/23twAQDmRj5S3bYaJ9knww4LoEVdZ2EHsuUssYUrDki3Lgh9MD2WEf8sCmMySsEfQ4aas.png)

Some lawbreakers are black and brown men.
Some lawbreakers are white men.
Some lawbreakers are women.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claims that "our carceral system was designed to trap black and brown men." Is that true? If it is, that is a travesty of the justice system that needs to be corrected. But it's such a harsh charge that it shouldn't be believed without the presentation of convincing evidence. Even if statistics show higher percentages of black and brown men incarcerated compared to white incarceration rates, it doesn't necessarily follow that the jail & prison system "was designed to trap black and brown men."

Perhaps there is evidence of laws being passed with the intention of "trapping" black and brown men. One possible example that comes to mind is the harsher sentences that were federally mandated decades ago for the use of crack cocaine -- then more prevalent in the black community -- than for the use of powder cocaine, which was used more in the white community.

Charges of racism are serious matters. They should not be thrown around lightly or carelessly. Nor should they be dismissed without examination. If AOC can produce credible evidence that America's 21st century system of justice is "designed to trap black and brown men," then let her present that evidence for all to hear and see. It is morally reprehensible for our criminal justice system to target black and brown men for incarceration because they are black or brown. But it is not wrong to target certain crimes for forceful prosecution and lengthy incarceration if the targeting is based on combatting particularly heinous behaviors, regardless of the skin color of the perpetrators.