Customer Reviews

Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The right to vote is mentioned and praised so much in the American press and social studies classes that many people don't know that a whole mess of states don't allow those who have served time to vote. This book is an almost exhaustive look at this issue. It will help many to sharpen their arguments and help others to become active on this social justice issue.

I really imagine that the authors must have read Lani Guinier's "The Miner's Canary." In that book, she posits that issues of race oftentimes flag issues that will or could affect people of all ethnicities. She uses an analogy to suggest how anti-racist activism can be done without scaring those who would dismiss matters as Black-only. The growing activism around fighting the death penalty is one movement that speaks of racial oppression, but also shows how everyone could be affected. The authors here speak about how disenfranchisement hurts everyone, but they also mention how it has disproportionately hurt African-American males. This book is both a Black text and not a Black text; multiple readerships would find this discussion interesting.

The authors highlight something very important: those who support disenfranchisement usually keep their heads low in maintaining the status quo. Politicians and everyday people may yell about being "tough on crime," but you rarely hear people being out about wanting to prevent ex-convicts from voting. Since it's on the books, they don't have to lift a finger; it's the progressives on the other side that must exert energy on this matter. Remember when Rosie O'Donnell came out on TV and only one Florida legislator would admit to supporting the homophobic ban in adoptions in that state? I've read myriad books that challenge homophobia in the military, but I've only seen one book where an author supported that mess. This shady dynamic should really rile us activists up.

This book reminded me of William Julius Williams' texts in which he juggles with several studies; this book is not focused on just one set of statistics per chapter. Following the statistical paper trail can be difficult, but I strongly believe that readers outside of university settings could also understand most of this text.

Maybe I missed it, but there is one thing that concerns me. This book speaks about the anti-Black origins of disenfranchisement laws, but it goes on to mention two states that have those laws that are heavily Black: Maryland and Delaware. If this issue is something for which activist Blacks are very aware, why haven't they pushed politicians in these states, many of whom are Black too, to reverse these laws?! I am Black myself, but I did wonder why haven't Blacks in this states dropped those laws.