She lumps Hillary Clinton in with Bill and argues that the 1994 crime bill was

As Hillary Clinton eyes an easy victory in the South Carolina primary, propelled by the black vote, two leading African-American intellectuals are pushing back.

Writing in the Nation yesterday, 'The New Jim Crow' author Michelle Alexander penned an essay titled, 'Why Hilary Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote,' outlining the Clintons' role in mass incarceration and high black unemployment.

The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates, who rose to national prominence after publishing the magazine's June 2014 cover story, 'The Case for Reparations,' told Democracy Now this week that he would be voting for Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders.

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Writers Ta-Nehisi Coates (left) and Michelle Alexander (right) both chiseled away a little bit of Hillary Clinton's credibility with the black community this week with Coates saying he would be supporting Bernie Sanders and Alexander writing an essay explaining why black voters shouldn't support Clinton

The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates took to Twitter to explain why he answered a question posed by journalist Amy Goodman. Goodman asked him point blank if he planned to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary

Hillary Clinton's campaign has been able to explain away her loss in New Hampshire and super slim victory in Iowa by suggesting that predominantly white states aren't the best places for Clinton's message to resonate

In her essay, Alexander argued that the way Bill Clinton got 'Reagan Democrats' to come home to the party was to show he was tough on crime.

She reminded readers that in advance of the 1992 New Hampshire primary the Arkansas governor zipped home to oversee the execution of Ricky Ray Rector, a black man who was so mentally impaired that he asked prison officials to save the rest of his final dessert for him so he could enjoy it later.

'Clinton mastered the art of sending mixed cultural messages,' wrote Alexander.

'Appealing to African Americans by belting out “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in black churches, while at the same time signaling to poor and working-class whites that he was willing to be tougher on black communities than Republicans had been,' she wrote.

Bill Clinton's crime policies included the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, the former being predominantly used in the black community, while the latter became a recreational drug for well off whites.

Clinton 'championed,' as Alexander put it, a federal 'three strikes' law, creating federal life sentences for three-time offenders.

His $30 billion crime bill put $16 billion toward beefing up state prisons and expanding police.

The 1994 crime bill was something Sanders voted for too.

This led to widespread incarceration disproportionately affecting blighted black communities, a sad effect from bad policies to which Hillary Clinton should .also be on the hook.

'Some might argue that it's unfair to judge Hillary Clinton for the policies her husband championed years ago,' Alexander wrote. 'But Hillary wasn't picking out china while she was first lady.'

Hillary Clinton has touted her husband's economy throughout her 2016 campaign, but Alexander explained why black voters shouldn't look at that too fondly.

While media reports suggested that black unemployment was at an all-time low, these figures didn't provide the whole story, Alexander wrote.

Sen. Bernie Sanders - photographed during his meeting yesterday with the Rev. Al Sharpton - is working hard to get more name recognition in black communities across the United States

Bernie Sanders met with Al Sharpton in New York City, as he's tried to pick up prominent endorsements from black leaders to help make his case in Southern states like South Carolina, where voters head to the polls next

Because so many black men were in jail, they weren't factored in to the employment figures reported at the time.

'When Clinton left office in 2001, the true jobless rate for young, non-college-educated black men (including those behind bars) was 42 percent,' Alexander pointed out.

Alexander didn't want her essay to be interpreted as an endorsement for Sanders, arguing that African-Americans ditch the Democratic party and start something new instead.

Coates didn't mean to endorse Sanders either, though when he was asked by Democracy Now's Amy Goodman point blank, he acknowledged his support.

'I will be voting for Senator Sanders,' Coates said. 'I have tried to avoid this question, but yes, I will be voting for Senator Sanders.'

'I try to avoid that, because I want to write as a journalist – do you know what I mean? – and separate that from my role as, I don't know, a private citizen,' Coates continued.

'But I don't think much is accomplished by ducking the question,' Coates added. 'Yes, I wlil vote for Senator Sanders. My son influenced me.'

Coates, concerned about any eyebrow-arching his comment might bring, took to Twitter to further clarify.

He said he, 'the citizen,' would be voting for Sanders. 'But that said, I'm not "endorsing" anyone.'

During the interview Coates suggested that Sanders was 'the best option that we have in the race' despite the fact that the Vermont senator has said he's against reparations for slavery, an argument that Coates has dutifully laid out and is in favor of.

The Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee officially endorsed Hillary Clinton's campaign from Capitol Hill today

The Clinton campaign has been able to excuse away the tie in Iowa and then the thumping in New Hampshire because those states aren't racially diverse, suggesting that Hillary Clinton will shine in states that have more black and Latino voters.

Sanders is making a concerted effort to gain more name recognition in minority communities with his native Vermont being predominantly white.

He will have a lot of ground to make up in South Carolina, however, with Clinton leading by an average of 29.5 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.

Both campaigns have been rolling out endorsements, with Clinton locking up the Congressional Black Caucus' Political Action Committee's today.

Chairman G.K. Butterfield touted Clinton's well-rounded record as part of the reason for the endorsement.

'And we care about foreign affairs in the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee,' he noted.

Sanders campaign announced that he would be getting the support of singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte.

Last week, Sanders also gained the endorsement of former NAACP head Benjamin Jealous, who vowed to help the surging senator in the South by talking to black leaders there.

'I find it offensive, quite frankly, when you see so many Hillary surrogates sort of implying that they can take the black vote for granted. Our vote is precious to us,' Jealous told Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show last night.

The comment came hours after Sanders had also met with activist Al Sharpton in New York City, in an effort to grab his endorsement as well.

'Hillary believes that she can win this game in 2016 because this time she’s got us, the black vote, in her back pocket—her lucky card,' Alexander wrote.

'She may be surprised to discover that the younger generation no longer want to play her game,' she continued.