The Mass Incarceration of African-American Males: A Return to Institutionalized Slavery,Oppression, and Disenfranchisement of Constitutional Rights

Details: Parent Category: Criminal Justice and Racism; Category: Prison Industrial Complex and Mass Incarceration; 25 May 2012; Hits: 110955

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II. The Return of African-American Males to Institutionalized De Facto Slavery

The legal institution of slavery in the United States ended in 1865 with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, the badges of slavery and bondage have lingered on into the twenty-first century as African-American males' constitutional rights are marginalized and abridged. Moreover, the Fifteenth Amendment was passed to ensure that the newly freed slaves had the right to vote. Yet, African-American males are systematically denied the opportunity to vote. Who would have thought that more than 100 years later, the descendents of newly freed slaves would be denied the right to vote under various state disenfranchisement laws? These laws have been upheld in most states, and achieve what slaves owners attempted to do with the Black Codes--prevent African-Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote.

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Race, Racism and the Law
Vernellia R. Randall
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