Summary
Maya McFarlane investigates enslavement, forced labor, and Black Futures in this final paper for Race, Inequality, and Public Policy. This paper examines the similarities and connections between the U.S. slavery system and the incarceration system and the role public racial discourse, policy, and politics play in challenging or justifying inequities. This paper draws on the works of Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” Barbara Ransby’s “Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century,” the Schomburg Center, and The Prison Policy Initiative to trace the history of inequity, potential modern-day solutions, and imagine more equitable futures.
By Maya McFarlane
Maya McFarlane investigates enslavement, forced labor, and Black Futures in this final paper for Race, Inequality, and Public Policy. This paper examines the similarities and connections between the U.S. slavery system and the incarceration system and the role public racial discourse, policy, and politics play in challenging or justifying inequities. This paper draws on the works of Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” Barbara Ransby’s “Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century,” the Schomburg Center, and The Prison Policy Initiative to trace the history of inequity, potential modern-day solutions, and imagine more equitable futures.