I wouldn't be so definitive, but if anyone wants to see an excellent documentary on the subject, watch 13th (after the 13th Amendment): https://en.wikipedia.or

I wouldn't be so definitive, but if anyone wants to see an excellent documentary on the subject, watch 13th (after the 13th Amendment): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film) I'll add a couple of common arguments that at least get you thinking, even if they aren't as powerful as evidence. First, note that mass incarceration began after segregation and other civil rights abuses were outlawed. One ramped down and the other ramped up. Many believe that one tool of oppression merely replaced another. Second, the legal and prison system have always been used, since the Civil War, to oppress black Americans. Mass incarceration wasn't a new tool, but an expansion of an old one. And it extends into today, as has been well-publicized recently. Or I'm sure everyone has heard the phrase, 'driving while black'. I've personally witnessed that kind of abuse.