Stacie L. Patterson Law Blog
Posted - 02/25/2010 01:35pm
0 Comments | Add Comment Is Mass Incarceration the New Jim Crow?
If you asked Michelle Alexander ten years ago if she thought Jim Crow laws which guaranteed the second-class citizenship of African Americans had been eradicated she would have answered with a resounding, “YES!” Since then, however, she has changed her mind--albeit reluctantly. After extensive research and analysis she believes she has unearthed a troubling truth. Ms. Alexander finds America's racial caste system has not been eliminated, it has simply been redesigned.
In her recently published book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," Michelle ascertains that the criminal justice system in the U.S. works to bar African American men from voting. According to her, in the nation today, "there are more African Americans under correctional control -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began."
When Ronald Reagan proclaimed the war on drugs, it opened the door to a new ball game with old rules which denies felons the right to vote. Anti-drug legislation and “felon disenfranchisement laws” work together to undermine the Voting Rights Act. Drug laws promulgated in the 1980s with the advent of the war on drugs are still in effect today and have resulted in prisons and jails full of African American men with felony convictions. Alexander asserts statistics show the War on Drugs is not colorblind. "Even though studies consistently show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates" one third of our nation's young black men are under the control of the criminal justice system. Ms. Alexander points out that in some states, African Americans are up to 57 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes than whites.
In many states once a drug user or seller is convicted of a felony, he or she loses the right to vote while on probation or parole; in other states, felons lose the right to vote for life. Consequently, the rate at which African American men are being disenfranchised due to felony convictions is extraordinarily high. "As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised due to felon disenfranchisement laws than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race."
Alexander’s research begs the question: How can we guarantee the right to vote to all Americans? Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” is now available. The book is a must read.
In her recently published book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," Michelle ascertains that the criminal justice system in the U.S. works to bar African American men from voting. According to her, in the nation today, "there are more African Americans under correctional control -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began."
When Ronald Reagan proclaimed the war on drugs, it opened the door to a new ball game with old rules which denies felons the right to vote. Anti-drug legislation and “felon disenfranchisement laws” work together to undermine the Voting Rights Act. Drug laws promulgated in the 1980s with the advent of the war on drugs are still in effect today and have resulted in prisons and jails full of African American men with felony convictions. Alexander asserts statistics show the War on Drugs is not colorblind. "Even though studies consistently show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates" one third of our nation's young black men are under the control of the criminal justice system. Ms. Alexander points out that in some states, African Americans are up to 57 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes than whites.
In many states once a drug user or seller is convicted of a felony, he or she loses the right to vote while on probation or parole; in other states, felons lose the right to vote for life. Consequently, the rate at which African American men are being disenfranchised due to felony convictions is extraordinarily high. "As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised due to felon disenfranchisement laws than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race."
Alexander’s research begs the question: How can we guarantee the right to vote to all Americans? Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” is now available. The book is a must read.
