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Document Type
Podcast
Publication Year
2025
Description
With the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, great change was promised. 60 years on, that promise remains an empty one for millions of Americans. While Voting rights and the integrity of American elections have been a constant and exhausting part of the national dialogue in recent years, few of these debates have dealt with the shadowy creep of the disenfranchisement of persons living with prior felony convictions.
In this episode, we use critical race theory to historicize this phenomenon, exploring its origins in slavery and the reconstruction era. We consider the connection of voting rights and power to the wider project of hyper-incarceration and consequent “civil death” of black communities in this country. We will hear from those directly impacted by these controversial laws and policies. Their reflections force us to confront uncomfortable truths about the precarity of black citizenship in the American experience and how the fight will be waged moving forward.
Disciplines
Civil Rights and Discrimination | Election Law | Law and Race | Race and Ethnicity
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Center/Program
Studio for Law and Culture
Recommended Citation
Singh, Teresa; Rust, Jordina; Esemuede, Eden; Wilson, Reynaldo; Meade, Desmond; Murray, Kerrel; Haines, Juan Moreno; and Jones, Dante, "CRT2 S4 Ep2: 60 Years of the Voting Rights Act: Race, Citizenship, and Redemption" (2025). CRT2 Season 4. 2.
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/crt2_4/2
Episode Details
Length: 42:30
Featuring:
Dr. Desmond Meade is President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) and Chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy.
Kerrel Murray is Associate Professor of Law and Milton Handler Fellow at Columbia Law School.
Juan Moreno Haines is Editor-in-Chief of Solitary Watch and an award-winning journalist incarcerated at San Quentin Prison.
No image available.
Dante Jones is a Journalist incarcerated at San Quentin Prison
Production:
Written, edited and produced by Teresa Singh, Jordina Rust, Eden Esemuede and Reynaldo Wilson with support from Mika’il Deveaux.