Public Meeting. From Slavery to Obama: The Struggle for Black Liberation
Thursday, February 19th, 7:15pm. [,] Portland State University [,] Smith Center Room 333
sponsored by International Socialist Organization
Obama's election dealt a historic blow against racism. At long last, a popular majority elected an African-American to the U.S. presidency in a country built on slavery. Yet as Obama takes office there are still more Black men in U.S. prisons than there were slaves in 1840, and they are being used for the same purpose; working for private corporations at 16 to 20 cents an hour. Half the states have private, for-profit prisons, whose lobbyists are demanding longer mandatory-minimum prison sentences. Indeed, American Blacks are incarcerated at nearly eight times the level of South African blacks during the height of apartheid.
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