Elizabeth Warren in The Associated Press

On Crime: Criminal justice system is racist front to back

While speaking at a historically black college, the Massachusetts senator identified some of the system's failures: disproportionate arrests of African-Americans for petty drug possession; an overloaded public defender system; and state laws that keep convicted felons from voting even after their sentences are complete.

Warren was participating in a Q&A session hosted by Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond at Dillard University in New Orleans. She was among several possible Democratic White House contenders who spoke at Netroots Nation, an annual conference for progressives.

Other than on criminal justice, Warren did not focus her answers on race, offering her usual creed about bending public policy back toward working-class Americans. She called for support for unions, massive investments in infrastructure and more spending on education.

On Principles & Values: I know I'm 1/32 Cherokee because my mother told me so

Her opponents question whether Warren chose this heritage to gain advantages available to Indians and other underrepresented groups in academia. Warren has been adamant that she did not seek any advantage from Native American heritage. Records show that she declined to apply for admission to Rutgers Law School under a minority student program and identified her race as "White" on an employment record at the University of Texas.