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

Authors

Floyd D. Weatherspoon

Publication Date

3-1-2007

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This Article expands on the plight of James Somerset by exploring how the American justice system disenfranchises African-American males of their constitutional rights of liberty and equal justice, thus placing them in a system of de facto slavery. This Article will also reveal how the American justice system has not only had a devastating impact on the social and economic status of African-American males, but also on their constitutional rights of freedom and justice. Specifically, this Article explores how the mass incarceration of African- American males is a system of involuntary servitude for life, similar to the institution of slavery. This Article documents the mass incarceration of African-American males in federal, state, and local prisons and jails throughout the United States. Evidence is presented that illustrates a direct correlation between the incarceration of African-American males and the loss of their rights to vote in state elections throughout this country.

DOI

10.37419/TWLR.V13.I2.12

First Page

599

Last Page

617

Recommended Citation

Floyd D. Weatherspoon, The Mass Incarceration of African-American Males: A Return to Institutionalized Slavery, Oppression, and Disenfranchisement of Constitutional Rights, 13 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 599 (2007).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/TWLR.V13.I2.12