Final answer:
African Americans have the highest rates of incarceration among racial-ethnic groups in the U.S., largely due to systemic inequality and socio-economic factors. Asian Americans are often referred to as the 'model minority' because of perceived higher socioeconomic success.
Step-by-step explanation:
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Incarceration Rates
When examining the incarceration rates among different racial-ethnic groups in the United States, African Americans experience the highest rates. This trend has been a persistent and troubling aspect of the American criminal justice system. According to studies, black men are almost six times as likely to be imprisoned as white men, and this disparity is also present among women, where significant differences in rates of imprisonment by race and ethnicity exist.
These disproportionate incarceration rates among African Americans can be linked to various factors, including historical inequality, systemic bias in the justice system, and socio-economic disparities. The high rates of incarceration contribute to other social challenges as well, such as reduced access to voting, lower economic opportunities, and continuing cycles of poverty and social stagnation. Policies like affirmative action have been introduced to strive for equal economic opportunity and to attempt to address some of these systemic issues.
In response to the question posed about which subordinate group is often referred to as the "model minority," the answer is b. Asian Americans. This term is used to describe a minority group that is perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the average, which sometimes leads to certain stereotypes that can be both positive and negative.