Racial Fairness

“By reserving the penalty of death for black defendants … or for those convicted of killing white persons, we perpetuate the ugly legacy of slavery – teaching our children that some lives are inherently less precious than others.” -Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Former President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The death penalty is a continuation of the ugly legacy of slavery as well as the judicial and extrajudicial lynchings of Black people in America. It is all too clear that we must do more to address the brutal impact of this legacy within our criminal legal system. Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP) acknowledges the long, violent legacy of racism, racial bias, and white supremacy active not only within the systems of capital punishment and mass incarceration, but throughout our society. TADP stands in solidarity with those who also seek to dismantle such systems of oppression and violence.

Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims generally are white.

Underlying the statistical evidence is the differential treatment of African-Americans at every turn:

• African Americans now make up 50% of Tennessee’s death row population but only 17% of its total population
• Between 2007 and 2017, eight of the nine new death sentences handed down in Tennessee were given to Black defendants.
• Half of Tennessee’s current death row comes from Shelby County. Historically, Shelby County is also among the 25 counties in the U.S. with the most recorded lynchings between 1877 and 1950.

Nearly 135 years after Congress enacted the 1875 Civil Rights Act to eliminate racially discriminatory jury selection, the practice continues, especially in serious criminal and capital cases. The staff of Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) has looked closely at jury selection procedures in eight southern states, including Tennessee. EJI uncovered shocking evidence of racial discrimination in jury selection in every state, including counties where prosecutors have excluded nearly 80% of African Americans qualified for jury service; majority-black counties where capital defendants nonetheless were tried by all-white juries; and some prosecutors employed by the state and local governments actually have been trained to exclude people on the basis of race and instructed on how to conceal their racial bias.To watch a 2021 presentation by Ngozi Ndulue on Death Penalty Information Center’s report, “Enduring Injustice: The Persistence of Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Death Penalty,” you can visit https://youtu.be/O_qEwgNZnn4