Blacks comprise about 12.8 percent of the total U.S. population, yet they make up approximately 66.5 percent of the total incarcerated population. Other studies have attempted to explain the disparity in incarceration among blacks and whites through different perspectives: the War on Drugs, discrimination, disinvestment in communities, lack of educational opportunities, and the rise single-parent homes have on the discrepancy in incarceration. Yet, all of the previous research does not fully explain the overrepresentation of incarcerated blacks or the difference in incarceration of blacks among states. The purpose of this study is to more fully explain the discrepancy in incarceration by examining the relationship between white and black incarceration rates and white and black social institutions. Findings show that the institutions of the economy, the family, and education are associated with incarceration, although the effects of each institution vary by racial group.