There are more African-American men in prison and in jail or on parole and probation today than were enslaved in 1850 – a decade before the start of the Civil War.
In her book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander argues that minority (especially black) men are being deliberately targeted for disenfranchisement via America’s criminal justice system.
This conversation further explores the inequities of prison sentencing and whether the disproportionate percentage of racial minorities composing the prison population reflects a deliberate effort to disenfranchise such men. (Segment begins at 26:40)