The Death Penalty Is a Racial Justice Issue

Although imperfect, history can be a powerful guide as we strive to improve, whether individually or collectively. Our nation’s history of lynching is one example of the many lessons that should galvanize us to make the lofty promise of “liberty and justice for all” more attainable. Researchers have documented more than 4,400 lynchings of African Americans in the wake of slavery’s end. And those same researchers recognize that many more killings are lost to time and incomplete records. But this history — built on data — is clear. And we shouldn’t be surprised. Our nation condoned extrajudicial executions of Black people for generations. Then the government systematized that violence and oppression into our modern death penalty system. The steady decline in the number of lynchings, beginning in the 1890s, intersects with the rise in executions into the 1930s and 40s. RELATED: Missouri Executed Marcellus Williams, Despite Evidence He Wasn’t Guilty Black people remain a primary target. Since 1976, 34% of the people we have executed were Black, nearly three times our share of the population. Federal death row is even worse. Thirty-eight percent of the 40 people currently sentenced to die are Black. Several of them were sentenced by all-white...