How a Family Allowance Could End Poverty
An old idea to keep women at home could expand economic opportunities for the nation’s poorest—and middle-class—families.
When Black Leaders Were For More Incarceration
A reader replies to Kay Hymowitz’s rebuttal to Ta-Nehisi’s cover story on mass incarceration: I’m sure ACLU,…
A Host Who Can Pronounce 'Ta-Nehisi Coates'
In case you missed it, Ta-Nehisi went on The Daily Show last night to discuss his latest cover story with…
'The Breakdown of the Black Family,' Cont'd
In the wake of Ta-Nehisi’s cover story on mass incarceration, The Atlantic last week published a strong dissent from…
The Breakdown of the Black Family
Any attempt to address mass incarceration has to begin with an effort to tackle crime—and the social conditions linked to its rise.
Prison: America’s Most Vile Export?
The U.S. incarceration problem is now the world’s to solve.
Why Has Crime Declined in the U.S.? Cont'd
The falling crime rate since the early 1990s has a number of documented causes and even more correlations associated with…
Is It Immoral to Force Prisoners to Work?
Spotlighting the Atlantic documentary on Angola prison, Whitney Benns made the very provocative argument last week that its work…
How Much Did Lead Contribute to Mass Incarceration? Cont'd
Responding to our request for more evidence related to the lead/crime connection, a reader points to economist Rick Nevin,…
Why Has Crime Declined in the U.S.?
We’ve had a flood of thoughtful, nuanced questions in response to our call-out about mass incarceration. We asked what…
What Does Rehabilitation Look Like for Lifers?
That’s the question tackled by this short documentary on Angola prison: A reader adds: I…
Hope in the Face of Mass Incarceration, Cont'd
A reader, Allene Swienckowski, shares an outlook similar to Thabiti Anyabwile, the Anacostia pastor we heard from earlier: …
Moynihan, Mass Incarceration, and Responsibility
Good intentions and deep sympathies cannot counter corrosive doctrines and destructive policy.
How Much Did Lead Contribute to Mass Incarceration?
A reader mentioned something I think is really worth expanding on. He initially shared the sentiments of these readers who…
Defending Moynihan's Legacy, Cont'd
An African American psychiatrist, mother, and Atlantic reader emails a nuanced perspective on the themes of gender and family we’ve…
Defending Moynihan's Legacy
Atlantic reader Greg Weiner, who teaches political science at Assumption College and wrote American Burke: The Uncommon Liberalism of Daniel…
Why Is Murder Spiking in Certain Cities?
As part of our related coverage of mass incarceration, Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, wrote…
What Do You Want to Know About Mass Incarceration?
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s cover story on the causes and consequences of the age of mass incarceration has produced a massive response.…
A Critique That Misses the Point
Mass incarceration is a complicated problem—and deserves to be treated as such.
The Case for Decarceration
It’s interesting. People often ask me if I think reparations will happen and my answer is, “Not in my lifetime…
America Needs a Third Reconstruction
The problem of mass incarceration is a problem of high inequality.
Should Vengeance Play Any Role in Incarceration?
A reader touches on several themes of TNC’s cover story: The essay is indeed long, with a…
Are Reparations Even in the Realm of the Possible?
Hey, So: That was a fun conversation for you, maybe, because you weren’t the moderator. I was…
Race Is Always the Issue
Blackness has been relentlessly disparaged in American discourse—both covertly and overtly.
The Work of Generations
Hey, Jeff. Yeah that was a fun convo. I respect Mayor Landrieu too, though my differences with him were, I…
What Comes After Incarceration?
TNC: I realized something about you earlier this summer, while we were both enjoying the scenery in that famed…
Hope in the Face of Mass Incarceration
We asked Thabiti Anyabwile, the lead pastor at Anacostia River Church in Washington, D.C., to respond to our new cover…
Mass Incarceration and the Problem of Language
I think what we name things has meaning. I also think that much of the vocabulary employed in the world…
Mass Incarceration Has Become the New Welfare
America's criminal-justice system has, in its failures, given way to policy that works against a disproportionate number of African Americans.
'He's Not the Same Person He Was at 16'
Below is a short Atlantic doc profiling the family of Odell Newton, who in 1973 killed a Baltimore cab driver…
A Note on the Moynihan Report, Black Women and 'Urbanology'
My piece on mass incarceration is long. I wish it wasn’t but it is. Believe it or not it was…
Moynihan Between the Lines
Would actually be awesome if folks read the report first. Here it is annotated. http://t.co/0sclKaz95N https://t.co/UUiQLx8wLw — Ta-Nehisi…
A Call for Hope in the Age of Mass Incarceration
The four-letter word helped African Americans surpass challenges in the past, and it should still be present in the face of today’s struggles.
A Family Weathers a Life Sentence
Odell Newton was 16 when he killed a cab driver. Four decades later, his family is still hoping for his release.
'We're Incarcerating Whole Social Groups'
The Atlantic’s new cover story, “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” just…
Memo to Labor Secretary W. Willard Wirtz
In an April 20, 1964 memorandum, Daniel Patrick Moynihan made the case for more aggressive action on behalf of African Americans.
The Moynihan Report: An Annotated Edition
A historian unpacks The Negro Family: The Case for National Action on its 50th anniversary.
The Other Half of the Moynihan Report
A little-known memorandum from Daniel Patrick Moynihan offered President Johnson policy prescriptions to address the problems his report had identified.
The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration
American politicians are now eager to disown a failed criminal-justice system that’s left the U.S. with the largest incarcerated population in the world. But they've failed to reckon with history. Fifty years after Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s report “The Negro Family” tragically helped create this system, it's time to reclaim his original intent.
Mass Incarceration, Visualized
In this animated interview, the sociologist Bruce Western explains the current inevitability of prison for certain demographics of young black men.
'I Think Our Criminal Justice System Is Working As Intended ...'
Ta-Nehisi narrates an exceptionally well-done video by illustrator Jackie Lay: TNC writes about the new video here.…
Never Marry Again in Slavery
A short note about The Atlantic’s October cover story, “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration”
The Enduring Myth of Black Criminality
Ta-Nehisi Coates explores how mass incarceration has affected African American families.