MTP 21: Reconstruction and Criminal Justice: discussing the era and its continued impact with Dede Miller

In this episode Julie Varner Walsh talks with historian Dede Miller for the second part in a series on Reconstruction. Reconstruction was the period immediately following the Civil War, in which the Confederate south was brought back into the fold and millions of formerly enslaved people began to make their way in a new America.

While Reconstruction is perhaps less well-known to most Americans than slavery, Jim Crow, or the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s, its impact has nevertheless continued to be felt in our politics and society – especially when it comes to racial inequality.

In this second part of the series, Julie and Dede discuss the topic of criminal justice. They talk about the legacy that Reconstruction-era “black codes” and policies of imprisonment and forced labor have left in American society, right down to the modern day.


Dede Miller is a wife, a mother of two, a historian, and a former teacher. She holds an M.A. in History and specializes in 18th and 19th century trans-Atlantic slavery and slave revolutions, African-American history, and black political identity.

Dede is a black woman and convert to Catholicism who has a deep love for her community and her faith. She is a founding member and President of Catholics United for Black Lives and is deeply invested in using the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to address the racial divide in America.


To learn more about Dede, follow her on Instagram @dedes.journey. To learn more about Catholics United for Black Lives, check out their website at www.cubl.org and follow them on Facebook and Instagram at @cublorg.

Follow Julie on Instagram and Facebook, and visit www.thesewallsblog.com/morethanpolitics to learn more about this podcast.

Theme music is by purple-planet.com