The death penalty in the United States should be abolished because it functions as a potent agent of racism and class oppression. African Americans and Latino/as represent the majority of those on death row. And executions are reserved almost exclusively for the poor. Ninety percent of those awaiting execution could not afford to hire a trial attorney.
In addition, death penalty abolitionists have known for decades that many of those executed are also innocent.
The article goes on to mention the highly publicized case of Todd Willingham, in which the arson experts proved he was innocent after he'd been executed. The thrust of the article is that the disproportionate number of black and Hispanic prisoners on Death Row, like Wllingham, is due to racism and poverty.
I'm not sure why they call this "another reason." I thought this was one of the main reasons right along, as we've discussed before.
Of course, Texas appeared prominent in the article.
As Shaka Sankofa lay strapped on the gurney in Huntsville on June 22, 2000, he said, “They know I’m innocent. They’ve got the facts to prove it. ... But they cannot acknowledge my innocence, because to do so would be to publicly admit their guilt.”
Sankofa continued, “Slavery couldn’t stop us. The lynchings in the South couldn’t stop us. This lynching will not stop us tonight. We will go forward . ... It’s state-sanctioned lynching, right here in America and right here tonight. Our destiny in this country is freedom and liberation. We will gain it by any means necessary. We must avenge this murder and continue to move forward to stop all executions of the poor and of Black people.”
We must put Shaka Sankofa’s words into action and abolish the racist and anti-poor death penalty.
What's your opinion? Do you agree that capital punishment is racist and anti-poor? Does the fact that a disproportionate number of minorities are executed prove anything? Do you think it's fair to call the death penalty "modern lynching?"
Please feel free to leave a comment.