Americans want to believe that it’s about wealth disparity, because that allows moderates to believe that at some level, people are responsible for their own po

Americans want to believe that it’s about wealth disparity, because that allows moderates to believe that at some level, people are responsible for their own poverty, and if poverty is something people have control over, then they bear personal responsibility for being too poor to afford justice. Compound that with people disingenuousy promoting this narrative for their own political reasons, such as wanting to promote the idea that the inhumanly high incarceration rates are evidence of an inherent criminality, laziness, or both on the part of people of colour, and you get an oft-repeated explanation that should not be accepted without evidence. It might feel like it ought to be true, but it’s not.