The U.S. Census Bureau just reported that more than three times as many blacks live in prison cells as in college dorms. The ratio is healthier for Hispanics, but only barely as 2.7 times as many Hispanics live in prison cells as in college dorms. The magnitude of those problems are evident when you compare those ratios to the ratio for non-Hispanic whites: twice as many live in college dorms as in prison cells.

Although the data is startling and very troubling, it isn't quite as bad as it seems. The data does not include those who go to college but live off-campus. While there are likely some discrepancies in percentages of whites versus blacks and Hispanics who live off- rather than on-campus, I suspect that this doesn't come close to explaining the differences in the ratios. Another factor is that the data is not broken down by age. The reality is that most prison inmates are 25 years of age or older while 96 percent of people in college housing are 18 to 24 years old.

No matter how you look at it, there has been a failure when anyone is forced to live in a prison cell rather than going to college. And it appears certain given the huge differences in the ratios that young black and Hispanic adults are far more likely to end up in a prison cell than in a dorm room. Those who end up in prison are far less likely to benefit their families or society than those who go to college so it behooves us all to work towards reducing and coming as close as we can to eliminating the number of people in prison, regardless of their race.