Tuesday, June 15, 2010

How have slavery and racism influenced our penal system?

How have the legacies of slavery and racism influenced our current penal system? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with two authors who've written about the history and modern day realities of the U.S. prison system. The U.S. imprisons more people than any other country in the world--roughly 2.4 million are behind bars on a given day. What do the soaring rates, non-rehabilitative methods, and racist, classist patterns of incarceration in this country say about American society? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Does mass incarceration put democracy at risk? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Robert Perkinson--author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire
Michelle Alexander--author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Click to Listen: How have slavery and racism influenced our penal system?