On the 4th of November, in the year of 2008, having the first African-American Democratic candidate win the presidential election of the United States made history. President Barack Obama became the forty-fourth president of the United States by beating out his Republican competitor, John McCain. This announcement to the thousands in attendance and to the millions that it was televised to signified a sense of hope and accomplishment. Again, in 2012, he won the presidency and is currently serving a second term. Once Obama announced that he was indeed running for president, the campaigns for voter registration sprang up. This encouraged both young and more mature people to, if they are not registered, to register to vote and go cast their ballot.
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According to a report published by The Sentencing Project, in 2010 more than 5.85 million adults could not cast their ballot to vote due to prior or current felony offenses. Felony disenfranchisement laws prohibit the voting of inmates while incarcerated under a felony offense as well as people on parole or probation. Distortion of the American prison system can convince people that state prisons are completely made up of vicious murderers and rapists. There are in-fact horrible murderers and rapists held in state prisons, however, violent offenders only consist of 13 percent of the prison population. A large 72.1 percent of prisoners are convicted of nonviolent offenses with no background of violence. The minority populations unfortunately are 20 to 40 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison than the white population in cases of both violence and nonviolence. Most of the ex-felons who were in prison for nonviolent offences endured the extra burden of the unfortunate, but seemingly intentional, circumstance of being sentenced based off of race. The ongoing conversation about whether ex-felons should be able to vote once again is a revolving door, but the point that the majority of the people unable to vote are African-Americans is alarming. There are campaigns across the country to restore the right of ex-felons to cast their votes, but it is …show more content…
The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution, Section One, states “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by states on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Even though this amendment was passed in 1870, its enforcement is still questionable today. The government may not directly order that people of a certain race or color can express the right to vote, but there are certain tactics and loopholes that can be interpreted as otherwise. As I’ve expressed before, the minorities look to be the target group that injustice is being done to in regards to voting. In history, this amendment was not widely accepted and enforced, and it appears that it is still not
According to a report published by The Sentencing Project, in 2010 more than 5.85 million adults could not cast their ballot to vote due to prior or current felony offenses. Felony disenfranchisement laws prohibit the voting of inmates while incarcerated under a felony offense as well as people on parole or probation. Distortion of the American prison system can convince people that state prisons are completely made up of vicious murderers and rapists. There are in-fact horrible murderers and rapists held in state prisons, however, violent offenders only consist of 13 percent of the prison population. A large 72.1 percent of prisoners are convicted of nonviolent offenses with no background of violence. The minority populations unfortunately are 20 to 40 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison than the white population in cases of both violence and nonviolence. Most of the ex-felons who were in prison for nonviolent offences endured the extra burden of the unfortunate, but seemingly intentional, circumstance of being sentenced based off of race. The ongoing conversation about whether ex-felons should be able to vote once again is a revolving door, but the point that the majority of the people unable to vote are African-Americans is alarming. There are campaigns across the country to restore the right of ex-felons to cast their votes, but it is …show more content…
The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution, Section One, states “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by states on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Even though this amendment was passed in 1870, its enforcement is still questionable today. The government may not directly order that people of a certain race or color can express the right to vote, but there are certain tactics and loopholes that can be interpreted as otherwise. As I’ve expressed before, the minorities look to be the target group that injustice is being done to in regards to voting. In history, this amendment was not widely accepted and enforced, and it appears that it is still not