Felony Disenfranchisement Bars 1 in 13 Black People From Voting
October 15, 2019
A first-of-its kind Presidential candidate forum hopes to highlight the issue of mass incarceration in America and the impact it has on our society and culture - especially the impact it has on people and communities after they’ve left prisons and jails.
More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, and more than 5 million are under some form of correctional control. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world.
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In recent years those numbers have been reduced by as much as 10% over the last 10 years - especially due to activist pressure that led to reforms under President Obama and encouraged President Trump to sign the First Step Act. But, according to Nazgol Ghandnoosh, senior research analyst at the Sentencing Project, "Some of those policies were reversed under the Trump administration," so it’s unclear if the reduction will continue.
The reduction in incarceration is seen as a good sign, and the Department of Justice promotes it as a measure of the effectiveness of its policies. It is true, however, that the incarceration rate has increased by almost 600% over the last 40 years, and a 10% reduction is very small in comparison.
Many of those incarcerated are Black Americans, who are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites. Non-Black people of color are also incarcerated at much higher rates than whites.
Mass incarceration has far-reaching effects for American society and culture. “There are more than 40,000 collateral consequences,” explains Julia Felsenthal, paraphrasing Senator Cory Booker, for people even after they’ve left prisons and jails.
She laid out some of them: “decreased access to social services (food stamps, public housing) and educational and job opportunities, loss of ability to serve on juries and, in some cases, to participate in the democratic process (in Alabama, for example, nearly 30 percent of the black male population has permanently lost the right to vote).”
More than 6.1 million Americans have lost the right to vote because of a felony conviction. 1 in every 13 Black people has lost their right to vote for this reason.
These effects, and the criminal justice system that incarcerates so many people in the first place, will be front and center at the first ever Formerly Incarcerated People’s Presidential Forum, set to be hosted on Oct. 28 in Philadelphia.
Organized by Voters Organized to Educate, Justice Votes 2020: A Presidential Town Hall will be run by and for formerly incarcerated people, and will give the 2020 Presidential candidates a forum to discuss their plans for criminal justice and prison reform.
The forum’s organizers hope to put formerly incarcerated people, and the issues that affect them, front and center with the 2020 candidates. According to DeAnna Hoskins, president of JustLeadershipUSA, “What history has taught us is that no movement has been successful [until] those most impacted are put in a position of leadership to lead the way out of that situation.”
Google is under fire for its role in the ongoing facial recognition debate. Recently it was reported that the major tech entity targeted a homeless population in an effort to improve the way this technology recognizes dark skin. The implications of what this means for Black people might be devastating because of how facial recognition has long worked against the interests of people with skin that isn’t lighter or whiter.
Subcontracted workers were sent out to collect data for Google. The Guardian reported that they were “instructed to target people with ‘darker skin tones’ and those who would be more likely to be enticed by the $5 gift card, including homeless people and college students.”
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A contractor who worked for them stated, “They said to target homeless people because they’re the least likely to say anything to the media.” This raised concerns about the ethics of the project and what would be done with the data itself.
The subcontractors used tactics that were meant to deceive people, such as telling them they were playing a “selfie game” and that they were taking part in a survey. People were pressured to sign consent forms without reading them while the phones they were given recorded footage of their faces. The deception used to collect the data led to more questions about the use of facial recognition itself which has long had issues around race.
For example, it was also reported that Amazon’s facial recognition technology misidentifies Black people. A test performed by the ACLU “falsely identified 28 members of Congress as people who have been arrested for crimes” and of those misidentified, the majority were Black. Ironically, in Google’s case, their project was allegedly being done to help reduce racial bias in facial recognition.
Yet, how the company went about it points to an underlying distrust Black Americans have for “research” like this as well as distrust in the collections of data that are likely to aid law enforcement.
Black activists in cities like Detroit have been fighting against law enforcement’s growing interest in using facial recognition technology. This has been happening largely because of the research and experiments that highlight the failures of this technology when it comes to correctly identifying Black people. Since Black people already have long-standing issues with identification and law enforcement, what’s happening now is only making that distrust deeper and worse in a more modern context. 
On October 7th, Oprah Winfrey announced a new $13 million donation to Morehouse College in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of her already-established Oprah Winfrey Scholars endowment fund, which began as a $1 million gift in 1989, and has since accumulated $12 million over the past three decades. The fund has helped nearly 600 students receive a quality education at one of America’s top institutions.
Thanks to her most recent commitment, the total endowed gift now stands at $25 million, crowning Winfrey as the largest contributor to a scholarship fund in Morehouse history. When asked what motivated her to continue investing in the lives of young Black men through her scholarship program, Winfrey stated in a press release shared by Morehouse that “[Black] men are an endangered species. They are so misunderstood. They are so marginalized.”
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“Where and when I can lend support to try to change that image, I do,” she continued. “That is what Morehouse is doing.” She went on to explain how proud she was to support Morehouse’s “mission to develop servant leaders focused on excellence.”
Morehouse President David A. Thomas shared with Atlanta’s WXIA 11 Alive his appreciation for this historic gift and urged others to follow suit.
“I’m grateful to Oprah Winfrey for her generosity. I am also feeling hopeful for Morehouse and what it has garnered in terms of philanthropic support with gifts like Oprah’s and Robert Smith’s. I am hopeful that this will also get others to step up with their support of Morehouse, but even more broadly, historically black colleges and universities.”
Indeed, historically Black colleges and universities need continued support. Philanthropic celebrities and businesspersons like Oprah Winfrey and Robert Smith have supported these institutions for as long as they have been in existence. And while the average individual won’t have millions of dollars to spare, there are ways to support students struggling to meet unpaid tuition balances.
Atlanta’s popular Slutty Vegan restaurant founder Pinky Cole, for example, is a proud graduate of Clark Atlanta University (an HBCU whose campus neighbors fellow, Black-centered institutions Morehouse and Spelman). She and fellow alumna Stacey Lee made headlines after partnering to pay the balances of 30 CAU seniors, clearing the financial hurdles that would keep them from graduating.
As the cost of college attendance continues to rise and the wealth gap continues to widen, Black families face an even greater challenge in financing their child’s education. Historically Black institutions continue to seek other funding sources such as state, federal, and grant funds while also finding ways to keep the practice alive of influential Black leaders generously supporting bright young students in their scholastic endeavors.
To thank Winfrey for her longstanding commitment, 47 Morehouse students (who she affectionately dubbed her “sons”) hosted a special tribute ceremony on October 7th where she was presented with roses, serenaded with a special song, and witnessed the unveiling of an oil portrait commissioned to memorialize her impact.
After Joshua Brown was killed, one question came pouring from every corner of the nation: “Who did it?”
As a key witness who contradicted the narrative presented by former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger about the night she killed Botham Jean, it was clear to many how important Brown’s courageously-told testimony would be. Jason Hermus was the lead prosecutor in the Guyger case and he told the Dallas News that Brown “bravely came forward to testify when others wouldn't,” and went on to say, "If we had more people like him, we would have a better world."
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Still, Brown ended up dead and, though the police claim they know what happened, there’s still some skepticism amongst the public.
Many people are questioning the legitimacy of the police timeline and details of the events they say led up to the killing of Brown. While police allege they were able to piece together what happened quickly because of “numerous tips,” some feel that it seems almost too good to be true for them to solve a crime plot they claim crossed state lines so promptly.
Others are urging caution when it comes to questioning authority - one person being the mayor of Dallas himself.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson took to Twitter to shun any conspiracy theories about Brown’s murder. He tweeted: “I trust the Dallas Police Department will conduct a thorough investigation into the death of Joshua Brown. Until we know more about this incident, I encourage everyone to refrain from speculation.”
He also said, “If you have information about this case, please share it with our police investigators so they can ensure that justice is done. Dallas will never be a city that tolerates acts of violence such as this.” The mayor’s comments drew their fair share of criticism.
Police are saying that Brown was killed in a drug deal gone wrong. According to NBC DFW, “Dallas police investigators said they believe the suspects traveled approximately 300 miles — a 4 1/2 hour's drive — to buy marijuana from Brown.” Countless people responded to this allegation with doubt because they found the prospect of anyone driving that far to be illogical.
Botham Jean’s family lawyer, Lee Merritt, has confirmed that Brown was worried someone may be after him. The Guardian reported Merritt saying, “He was reluctant to testify in this case because he had been shot at and he thought some people might want to do harm to him.” Now that Brown is gone, concern still remains. After all, he wasn’t the only witness who contradicted Guyger’s testimony. 
Since he first announced his campaign for President, Joe Biden has been the front-runner. This has been especially true among Black Americans - but that may be changing! Elizabeth Warren has steadily been gaining ground in major polls.
According to Real Clear Politics, Biden had a huge lead in the Democratic field in May, with more than 40% of voters indicating he was their first choice. That lead has steadily shrunk, and as of October 8th, he is still in the lead - but with only about 26% of the vote.
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During the same time period, Elizabeth Warren has consistently risen - going from about 8% in May to 26% in October - dead even with Biden. But why? And is this change reflected among Black voters?
Not exactly. According to multiple polls, Biden is still by far the top choice for Black voters. But Warren is gaining ground here, too: her poll numbers among Black voters have doubled in the last few weeks.
Activists have criticized Biden as “not progressive enough,” and attribute his role in creating the 1994 Crime Bill as to why. It introduced things like “three strikes” laws and mandatory minimum sentencing, which greatly contributed to mass incarceration, which has put countless Black people behind bars.
He also regularly says eyebrow-raising off-the-cuff remarks, like when he compared “poor kids” to “white kids,” or when he bragged about being friendly with openly-racist senators.
Black voters make up nearly 25% of Democratic voters, and that means whoever Black people vote for is very likely to be the nominee. But Black voters are diverse and have a wide variety of interests and priorities.
Primary among Black voters is “electability;” many reports indicate that their highest priority is winning against Donald Trump. While many could support a woman president, they know it’ll be harder for her to compete - and they look to Hillary Clinton’s loss as a cautionary tale.
Biden has mainstream name recognition and a close association with Barack Obama - the most popular former president in recent memory - neither of which is one of Warren’s strengths. Supporters of Biden also point to his reputation as a collaborator and dealmaker in congress, while Warren is known more as a “firebrand.” Many activists argue, though, that not only is Warren electable, she’s also better for Black America than Biden.
Biden has been largely moderate on most issues important to Black Americans - such as criminal justice reform, education, economic issues like taxes and income inequality, and racism - while Warren has been outspoken and progressive about these issues, as well as one of the first congress members to call for President Trump’s impeachment.
As she gains popularity - Elizabeth Warren is now clearly in the No. 2 spot behind Biden - more Black voters are warming up to her. One Black Warren-supporter explained her perspective on the shift: “I just think people don’t know her yet… [a]ll she needs to do is put herself in front of people,” and they might like what they discover, said Kim Ume, who lives in South Carolina, which strongly supports Biden according to polling.
Only time will tell who wins Black voters’ crucially important favor.
Every 10 years, the United States conducts a national Census - an attempt to count every person in America. Getting an accurate, comprehensive Census count is a crucially important aspect of American domestic policy, because it determines so many things: state budgets, representation in congress, school funding, and much more.
But you may end up filling out an “illegal attempt to mislead the American people” instead of the real Census, according to Carolyn Maloney, the head of the Census Caucus in the House of Representatives. That’s because the RNC is mailing out documents that look just like a Census form - but are actually Republican fundraising surveys.
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According to the RNC, the “mailers are clearly marked that they are from the Republican National Committee.” Critics of the practice - which is called “FRUGing,” or “Fundraising under the guise of research,” disagree.
Chris Kiser, whose tweets about the survey recently went viral, told Snopes that his mother was confused and believed the survey was mandatory - and that the $15 “processing fee” was required as well. The surveys say “OFFICIAL DOCUMENT, DO NOT DESTROY” and “2019 Congressional District Census” on the envelope.
Inside, the forms state: “President Trump has requested that a Census of every Congressional district be conducted immediately.” The surveys do, however, contain very strong pro-Trump and pro-Republican language. Repeatedly they mention supporting Trump’s re-election and that they are sent from the Republican party - not the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Rochester Post Bulletin reports that this language is designed to target vulnerable people. “These mailings target people who are more vulnerable to manipulation… [they target] the elderly, who might not even be able to read the small print but can see the big-type warnings about deadlines and mandatory processing fees.”
This practice isn’t new. Congress even passed a law in 2010 outlawing the practice, which both major political parties have used in the past. Despite the outcry, it appears that these deceptive mailers are still legal.
Emilie Saunders, director of communications for the Montana Department of Commerce, argues that the main issue is misinformation: "Getting accurate information out is so critical. We don't want folks to think that because they respond to this mailer back in May or in September that they already responded to the census when it arrives next year."
The 2020 Census is crucially important, and lawmakers as well as numerous news outlets are urging their constituents to pay attention and make sure that when the Census happens in 2020, they are filling out a legitimate Census document from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Some states switched up after the 2010 census. They decided to start counting prisoners based on their home communities, and not the prisons where they reside. The controversy over this makes it clear why our participation in the census is so important!
According to analysis from Stateline.org, “Many inmates hail from neighborhoods in or near cities, but most are incarcerated in small towns and rural areas.” This means that counting inmates in prisons could shift power to rural areas, whereas not doing so emphasizes cities.
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The census count has everything to do with legislative representation and resources. An accurate count means a more accurate measurement of who gets what. This is why it’s important to participate. And keep in mind that prisoners can’t vote (except in 2 states), so they’re not really considered constituents.
It’s being described as “prison gerrymandering,” and it depends on where you are and who runs your state to know what’s what. Prison Policy Initiative says it “leads to a dramatic distortion of representation at local and state levels, and creates an inaccurate picture of community populations.”
If you didn’t know, now you know. The census is a big deal and participation matters. If it didn’t, why else would a debate like this be ongoing? It’s up to us to make sure our communities are counted accurately, starting with each of us individuals!