With all due respect, disenfranchisement due to felony convictions is not a function of race. The young writer may wish to rehash the reasons why African Americans are convicted of felonies at a much higher rate than their fellow citizens, but this paper is lacking in logic. She might also want to examine why voter registration among Africans Americans is lower than the rest of the population, and why African American felons who are now eligible to be have their voting rights restored do so at a much lower rate than the rest of the population in the same circumstance. I do not see any connection to Jim Crow laws in today’s society. I don’t see any reference to any modern statute that singles out one race or another on the subject of felony convictions and the right to vote, or to have one’s right to vote re-instated. In fact, I don’t see any point in this paper that is at all relevant to anything.

Craig Kilby



> On Jan 21, 2015, at 4:52 PM, Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> The Virginia News Letter has just published "Felons and the Right to Vote
> in Virginia: a Historical Overview" by a young scholar, Helen Gibson.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.coopercenter.org/publications/VANsltr0115
> 
> 
> 
> From the abstract: "Recent Virginia governors have made strong progress in
> reforming laws regarding the restitution of voting rights for felons and
> ex-felons. But the denial of voting rights for people with felony
> convictions in Virginia and other states still disproportionately affects
> black citizens. . . . Gibson writes that Virginia has had one of the most
> discriminatory records for denying voting rights to felons and ex-felons
> until recently.  But key steps by recent governors have made the path to
> restoration of rights smoother."
> 
> 
> Henry Wiencek
> 
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html


______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html