Because race is a very good predictor of class in the US. Are you poor? Probably black. Are you in trouble with the legal system? Probably poor -> black. Can

Because race is a very good predictor of class in the US. Are you poor? Probably black. Are you in trouble with the legal system? Probably poor -> black. Can you afford good health care and preventive medicine? Probably not poor -> probably not black. Funnily enough this also explains why redneck whites are looked down on by everyone else.