1. There Are Around 6.1 Million People In The United States Today That Have Been Disenfranchised.
If you thought that whole thing where the American government denies citizens their right to vote was over, well you're wrong. Like 6.1 million times wrong. You see, our legal system has the ability to revoke someone's “V” slip and kick them out of our democracy. It varies state by state how long these people are disenfranchised. In three states, once labeled a felon, one could go the rest of his/her life without being allowed to vote, while in others reinfranchisement occurs once one's punishment has been served.
2. This Disenfranchisement Is Not Spread Across The Population Equally.
I'm sure we are all aware that incarceration rates from Americans are skewed heavily towards an over-representation of minorities across the board. While some would attribute this to a socioeconomic view of the country (those groups that are disproportionately poor are more likely to be arrested and convicted for a myriad of reasons), acknowledging the institutional discrimination within the system is an important factor. Around 2.5% of the population is legally disenfranchised, but if one where to take a state-by state approach, the results would be unsettling. There are four states in the USA where at least 1 in every five African Americans have lost their right to vote. There are 23 states in which 1 in every 20 African Americans have lost their right to vote. These numbers far exceed figures from 1980, so for anyone who says things are getting better, they aren't.
3. “Color Blind” Policies Do Not Ensure Equality
For some reason, people think the cure to systematic racism and discrimination is to simply not talk about it. Supposedly “Color-Blind” policies like mandatory minimum sentencing and the Three Strikes rule are purportedly designed to equalize an equation that has always, since the birth of this nation, been in the favor of white and wealthy men, yet all these laws have done is provide another way for discrimination to be legitimated. You end up with neighborhoods ripped apart because crack had (pre-2010) an 100:1 sentencing disparity in comparison to cocaine. That means being caught with 5 grams of crack (pre-2010) got you the same mandatory minimum sentence of five years that getting caught with 500 grams of cocaine would result in. Post 2010, the ratio is smaller, 18:1, but that doesn't mean the problem has been solved. When minorities are usually concentrated to the bottom rungs of the nation's economic strata and come from low income neighborhoods, it's no surprise the more minorities, especially African Americans would be the victims of this sort of imbalance. Crack is only one commonly cited example. Minorities are disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system and disenfranchised, and at the end of it you have to ask yourself: Why disenfranchise felons in the first place?
While you may think that disenfranchisement is a proper punishment for those who commit heavy enough crimes to be labeled felons, if there is anything this recent election has shown me, it's the lack of value in a vote. Donald Trump did not win the popular vote, not even close, yet he was still elected president. Even so, on a smaller scale, county and community based, being able to vote matters. It's a citizen's most vital key to their rights in this nation. If one cannot vote, one cannot have a say in the laws that govern them, and if a disproportionate amount of those that have been disenfranchised are minorities, then we, as a country, have really instilled a new Jim Crow on our people.
If you're interested in learning more, here are the sources I used to write this article along with some more helpful links:
Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws Across the United State
6 Million Lost Voters: State-Level Estimates of Felony Disenfranchisement, 2016
How Crack Vs. Coke Sentencing Unfairly Targets Poor People
Data Show Racial Disparity in Crack Sentencing
The Racist Origins of Felon Disenfranchisement
Repurposing: New Beginnings for Closed Prisons
