To the editor:

Jim Crow was a system put in place in the 1900s to ensure blacks would remain in servitude and be labeled as second-class citizens. Today, the New Jim Crow involves putting a felony on a person’s record.

I know that the first thought for most people who read this letter will be that if you do the crime, you must do the time. That’s true.

The laws of Jim Crow locked people of color into a permanent second-class citizenship. They couldn’t vote, and they were discriminated against in housing, education and jobs, all because of the racial caste system of Jim Crow.

Now, let’s take a look at the New Jim Crow. Jails and prisons are supposed to be for rehabilitation, but once a person is released or the court places him on probation, he or she becomes a felon, with the letter “F” added to his name.

Under the New Jim Crow, he can’t get certain jobs, and if he has a drug conviction, he can’t get government housing — really no help from the government. He can’t vote, and some colleges will not even allow a felon on campus, so he is discriminated against in education.

I know that some people have had great success, in spite of the “F” behind their names, but there are too many blacks, whites and Latinos that are having a very difficult time because of the felony records they carry.

It’s time to take a serious look into the criminal justice system and kill Old Jim Crow and New Jim Crow once and for all.

Michael Mayfield

Inmate

Western Tidewater Regional Jail