Michelle Alexander: More Black Men Are In Prison Today Than Were Enslaved In 1850

[Quickie]

More black men are behind bars or under the watch of the criminal justice system than there were enslaved in 1850, according to the author of a book about racial discrimination and criminal justice.

Ohio State University law professor and civil rights activist Michelle Alexander highlighted the troubling statistic while speaking in front of an audience at the Pasadena Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, Elev8 reports.

Alexander, the author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," reportedly claimed there are more African American men in prison and jail, or on probation and parole, than were slaves before the start of the Civil War.

More than 846,000 black men were incarcerated in 2008, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice estimates reported by NewsOne. African Americans make up 13.6 percent of the U.S. population according to census data, but black men reportedly make up 40.2 percent of all prison inmates.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...c3_lnk1|103929



Pretty sad statistic.

[Actium]

Pretty sure there's more people now than there were then too.

How about comparing:

# of free blacks in America before the Civil War vs the # of enslaved ones
to
# of blacks in prison now vs the # of ones without a felony record.

[SoonerMatt]

Originally Posted by Actium

Pretty sure there's more people now than there were then too.

How about comparing:

# of free blacks in America before the Civil War vs the # of enslaved ones
to
# of blacks in prison now vs the # of ones without a felony record.

Number of slaves in 1850: 3,200,364
Total US Population in 1850: 9,620,662
Percent of population who were slaves: 33.27%
Black population in 1850: 3,436,185
Percent of black population who were slaves: 91.37%
SOURCE: Historical Statistics of the United States, The Smithsonian

Number of black inmates (according to article): 846,000
Black population in 2008: 42,000,000
Percent of black population in prison: 2.01%
SOURCE: United States Census Bureau

And as I'm sure we all know, slavery was forced on blacks back then. While it's debatable whether or not blacks are forced to commit crimes for various socioeconomic reasons, the bottom line is they chose to commit their crimes rather than obey the law or make the sacrifices to seek alternate means.

[john grey]

"Estimates reported by NewsOne" are not correct. The true statistics are available here:

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Total correctional population