Elections in the US are just around the corner, and it looks as if, once again, the results will ultimately hinge on outcomes in a few swing states. Perhaps foremost among these is Florida, where almost 25% of its African American citizens are disenfranchised because they are either felons or ex-felons. Florida, however, is not an outlier. In Kentucky and Virginia, over 20% of all potentially eligible African Americans voters will not be able to cast their ballot in November, while in six additional states the percentage is in the teens.
Although it is becoming difficult to ignore the brutal state violence that has all too frequently been unleashed against African Americans—and that usually goes unpunished—many people are still ignorant of the fact that 12% of all black men are denied the right to elect the people who govern them due to previous or present incarceration. By contrast, only 2.5% of the general population are not allowed to vote—surely another manifestation of black lives not mattering.
But what do human rights scholars have to say about this in their academic writings?
