John Bardes

John Bardes, a historian specializing in slavery and race, dives into the overlooked relationship between slavery and mass incarceration in New Orleans. He reveals that enslaved and free populations were incarcerated at alarming rates, contradicting common assumptions. Bardes discusses how slaveholders used prisons for control and profit, linking these practices to the legacy of racialized policing and vagrancy laws. He even highlights the forgotten histories that inform today’s issues with mass incarceration, advocating for a deeper understanding of these historical ties.