In 2000, Pennsylvania led all jurisdictions (including all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the federal prison system) in having the greatest disparity between the White and non-White incarceration rate. In the Keystone state-which in 2000 was 85% White (not including Latinos)- ethnic and racial minorities were incarcerated at 13 times the rate of Whites. African Americans were incarcerated at 16 times the rate of Whites, and Hispanics were incarcerated at just under 9 times the rate of Whites. While the White incarceration rate in Pennsylvania is in line with the more modest use of incarceration seen in Western Europe and Canada, the African American and Hispanic incarceration rates are amongst the highest in the world.
Color of the Keystone: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Use of Incarceration in Pennsylvania. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/keystone.shtml
In the last twenty years, the number of prisoners in Pennsylvania more than quadrupled, from 8,112 (1980) to 36,614 (2000). During that same period, the proportion of Pennsylvania prisoners that were White dropped from 45%, to 34%, and the number of non-White prisoners grew to 66%. Put another way, of the 28,000 new inmates that were added to Pennsylvania prisons during the last twenty-years, 7 in 10 new inmates were Non-White. African Americans made-up 57% of the growth in inmates during this period.
Color of the Keystone: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Use of Incarceration in Pennsylvania. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/keystone.shtml