40% of all black men in the state of Florida just became eligible to vote *today.* Think about that.
Here’s how the 40% figure is determined. Estimates of the black population in Florida who have already completed their sentence range from 18%-28%. The Sentencing Project has 18%: sentencingproject.org/wp-content/upl…
New research shows a higher 28%: link.springer.com/article/10.100…
New research shows a higher 28%: link.springer.com/article/10.100…
But the vast majority of those disenfranchised in Florida are men. Men are 93% of those currently incarcerated in Florida. So 18-28% of black people overall is more like 35-45% of black men in particular who were disenfranchised just a few hours ago and are now eligible to vote.
FL disenfranchisement was racist by design. In 1868 FL made many “crimes of poverty” felonies, made felonies cause disenfranchisement, then targeted blacks exclusively for arrest. Many crimes in FL (theft of $301) are felonies that aren’t in other states. washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11…
