Understanding America’s Prison Problem – With Bill Keller

The 13th Amendment that abolished slavery had a loophole - it didn’t apply to people who had been convicted of serious crimes. The south, in particular, took advantage of this and criminalized things black men would be vulnerable to (ex. loitering)

In response to the “crack epidemic”, far harsher penalties were established for possessing crack cocaine (used by poor/coloured people) than for powdered (used by rich/white) people.