Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the United States than the war on drugs... Convictions for drug offenses are the single most important cause of the explosion incarceration rates in the United States The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.

In Washington DC, our nation’s capital, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison…as many as 80% of young AfricanAmerican men now have criminal records and are thus subject to legalized discrimination for the rest of their lives. - Prof. Michelle Alexander


haggadah Section: Shulchan Oreich