Does the United States still function under a racial caste system? Civil rights advocate and author Michelle Alexander presents a sobering history of the policies that target people of color for mass incarceration—and proposes to end what she labels “the new Jim Crow.” This talk was filmed at TEDxColumbus. All TEDx events are organized independently by volunteers in the spirit of TED's mission of ideas worth spreading. To learn more about TEDxSHORTS, the TEDx program, or give feedback on this episode, please visit http://go.ted.com/tedxshorts.

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