Lynn Fitch became Mississippi's AG tonight, winning 60% of the vote.
But 10% of Mississippi's voters are disenfranchised due to having criminal records, 3 x the national average.
And 20% of African Americans in Mississippi have permanently lost the right to vote.
But 10% of Mississippi's voters are disenfranchised due to having criminal records, 3 x the national average.
And 20% of African Americans in Mississippi have permanently lost the right to vote.
The rate of African American disenfranchisement (1 in 5) is the highest in the nation. Probably no coincidence that the percentage of the Mississippi population that is African American is also the highest in the nation at some 40%.
sentencingproject.org/publications/f…
sentencingproject.org/publications/f…
Mississippi has also not had an African American Senator since Reconstruction.
And they have NEVER ELECTED anyone African American to the US Senate.
(Until about the 1920s, the Mississippi state legislature appointed its US Senators.)
And they have NEVER ELECTED anyone African American to the US Senate.
(Until about the 1920s, the Mississippi state legislature appointed its US Senators.)
I say all of this to say, none of this is coincidental, the criminal legal system, incarceration, racism, disenfranchisement - nowhere is it all more clearly interconnected - and the intent and effects more obvious - than in Mississippi.
PS. Here's some more detailed information on the history and practice of voter disenfranchisement in Mississippi by my colleague, @Taniel. appealpolitics.org/2018/mississip…
