Just a Color?

In tandem with the ongoing in class talks about the biased incarcerations of blacks versus whites, the simple "color" problem is really persisting. 

From a New York Times article surprisingly about the drop in percentages of blacks versus whites incarceration, a glaring number still stood out to me. "Over all, blacks currently make up about 38 percent of inmates in state and federal prisons; whites account for about 34 percent."

Keep those numbers in mind:

38% Black
34% White

Based on the United States Census, the racial percentages are as follows:

13.1% Black
78.1% White

Why the disparity in percentages?

I feel that a sort of hard-wiring has overtaken American ideals over the years. Aside from the most affluent black people in the USA such as Oprah, Obama, athletes and countless others, it seems that a common misconception of seeing a group of black men on the street versus white men on the street is made constantly. A group of black men could symbolize a gang meeting, which leads to the stops and incarcerations in conjunction. A group of white men wouldn't make a police officer think twice.

Whether or not that can or will change is anyone's guess, but I would love to hear your thoughts about why you think the numbers of incarceration vs. population are such opposites. Do you think the color of one's skin correlates to assumptions and incarcerations?