Examples Of Mass Incarceration In The New Jim Crow

Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, examines mass incarceration in the United States, why the criminal justice system works the way it does towards minorities, the detriments associated with mass incarceration as it relates to offenders, and much more. In the introduction of her book, Alexander immediately paints the harsh reality of mass incarceration with the story of Jarvious Cotton who is denied the right to vote among other rights because he, “has been labeled as a felon and is currently on parole” (1). Other information Alexander presents in her introduction are her qualifications as an author of the book, and gives a brief summary of each chapter and how each one is laid out. Her qualifications are she is African-American civil rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and is also an Associate Professor at the University of Stanford Law School. From a critical standpoint, Alexander seems very qualified to write on the topic, being part of the marginalized group and also being an expert in the legal field of which the topic covers, enhances her ethos to where one could consider her an expert in mass incarceration topics, as they relate to African-Americans. Overall, the introduction of her book does a great job starting out giving a stark reality of topic at hand, giving brief statistical references about mass incarceration in the United States, and giving an outline for her book.

This targeting led to the incarceration, imprisonment, chain gangs, prison farms and other correctional facilities for tens of thousands of African American men, women, and children.” The idea of mass incarceration being used to systematically oppress black people has traveled to the surface with Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, and Taylor talks about the effect of mass incarceration. In the book, Alexander highlights that the majority of the African American men are either in prison or have some type of criminal record making it unable for them to vote and get jobs. Alexander describes the criminal justice systems as the “New Jim Crow,” a modern type of oppression for African Americans. Mass incarceration rate skyrocketed during the Drug War and many African American were jailed for several years for petty crimes, shown in the documentary 13th by Ava DuVernay. Alexander book shows the oppression of African American and is a statement to change our criminal justice system that is targeted to victimize African Americans. Ultimately, Taylor points out that not only do the police have the power to destroy your body, but by using their power to charge African American men for petty crimes they able to effectively keep African Americans in a lower-class status, supporting the white suprematist view manifested in our police force.

In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander maps out the parallels between the old Jim Crow system and the new racial caste system of mass incarceration. There are many profound similarities between these two systems, such as historical parallels, closing the courthouse doors, and racial segregation.

The third critical book review for this class takes a look at “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander published in 2012 by the New York Press. This book analyzes the problem with the incarceration system in the United States today that unfairly affects the African American community. This incarceration system is continuing to separate families, strip men of their freedom, and effectually make them into second class citizens upon release from prison as “free” men. She even describes that those who are convicted of these crimes are “relegated to a racially segregated and subordinated existence” (Pg. 4). Michelle Alexander is not only a published author but is also an active Civil Rights activist all while currently employed as an associate professor of law at Ohio State University. It is a very interesting read that coincides with where our class discussions have recently been. It argues that we as a country have not ended racial discrimination but just transformed it into a new type of caste system. It is an eye opening book that created an uncomfortable feeling while reading due to my level of ignorance on this topic prior to taking this class. I believe that this book will serve as an important narrative into fixing the race problems in this country because it brings to light what needs to be fixed. If any progress is made it will be because of books like this that expose the problems but starting to fix them will be the next step.

Racism in the United States has not remained the same over time since its creation. Racism has shifted, changed, and shaped into unrecognizable ways that fit into the fabric of the American society to render it nearly invisible to the majority of Americans. Michelle Alexander, in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness shatters this dominantly held belief. The New Jim Crow makes a reader profoundly question whether the high rates of incarceration in the United States is an attempt to maintain blacks as an underclass. Michelle Alexander makes the assertion that “[w]e have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it” using the criminal justice system and colorblind rhetoric. (Alexander 2). The result is a population of Black and Latino men who face barriers and deprivation of rights as did Blacks during the Jim Crow era. Therefore, mass incarceration has become the new Jim Crow.

In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander develops a compelling analogy on how mass incarceration is similar to the Jim Crow era, and is a “race-making institution.” She begins her work with the question, “Where have all the black men gone?” (Alexander, 178) She demonstrates how the media and Obama have failed to give an honest answer to this question, that the large majority of them or in prison. She argues that in order to address this problem, we must be honest about the fact that this is happening, and the discrimination with the African American communities that is putting them there.

In the new proactive book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander dives into the not so complicated racial issues that plague this country that we tend to ignore. In all of history, African Americans have had to constantly fight for their freedoms and the right to be considered a human being in this society. It’s very troubling looking back and seeing where we have failed people in this country. At the turn of the century, when people began to think that we had left our old ways behind, this book reminds us that we are wrong. Racism is still alive today in every way, just in different forms.

After reading both The New Jim Crow and the article on the myth os mass incarceration,

Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, discusses the preservation of racial subordination in the United States. While the abolition of slavery following the American Civil War freed all slaves, the institution left an enduring impact on society, especially the impression of white male supremacy. Consequently, the development of Jim Crow Laws preserved the racial segregation of former slaves under a more “civilized caste system.” After nearly a century of fighting against the new system of subordination, African Americans were freed again upon the lift of the Jim Crow Laws. Despite the hundred years since the abolition of slavery, white resentment and wrath still remained which helped

But it is exclusively the ongoing legacy of African enslavement – the identification of blackness with inferiority and whiteness with its opposite - that persists and potentially disrupts every political and economic struggle in the United States today, whether it be for a living wage, for civil liberties, for the right to organize, for education and health care, for gender equality, for equal rights of immigrants, for “fair” taxation of wealth, for human rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people – everything. It is not accidental that the majority of the men and women in prison today are African American, and most of the rest are Latino. The so-called criminal justice system and the prison-industrial complex maintain a new form of slavery.

The New Jim Crow demonstrates that it is not merely the large number of people in prison, but it is the severe restriction of their rights after they leave prison that generates much of the system's hopelessness. Felons are excluded from public housing, welfare, employment opportunities, and even the right to vote. These felons, a significant percentage of the urban black population, became an underclass in which is unable to rise. Although many people see the rise of mass incarceration as a response to the crack epidemic of the 80's, Alexander argues persuasively that it was

Antiblack racism still exists. This is an unfortunate fact, but a true one. It does not exist in terms of segregation, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, or slavery anymore, but there are still numerous examples of racism in the world. One example, which may come as a surprise, is found in the United States justice system. But how could a nation who stands behind freedom and equality have a corrupt system of justice for its citizens? While not all parts of the system contradict themselves, prison institutions are a profound example of racism in the justice system. A multitude of examples exist, but the best ones come from current and ex-convicts as they are living the example and telling the story, as well as civil rights advocates who work to analyze these situations and offer ideas for reform. Works such as Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis, Soul On Ice by Eldridge Cleaver, The Essential Etheridge Knight by Etheridge Knight, and Bastards of the Reagan Era by Reginald Dwayne Betts are only a few examples of novels and poetry that expose the racist inclinations of the United States prison system. Written by esteemed scholars and academics, current and ex-convicts, all authors detail the struggle and need for racial reform in the nation’s prison system.

Speaker: Alexander shares her experience developing her understanding of mass incarceration as a new racial caste system to display that it is not surprising if people do not recognize it initially and do not understand or agree with her argument because she, herself didn’t recognize these events occurring either. Presented in the introduction, Alexander states that “I reached the conclusions presented in this book reluctantly.” (Alexander 2) in addition “Ten years ago, I would have argued strenuously against the central claim made here— namely, that something akin to a racial caste system currently exists in the United States” (Alexander 2). During this time in her life she “clung to the notion the evils of Jim Crow are behind us” (Alexander 3), and the thought of the possibility of a new racial hierarchy in the United States never crossed her mind. In spite of this, she sees the clandestine working of a new system of control come forth before her eyes but, not others. That the issue of mass incarceration is seen, not as a racial justice concern, but as a criminal justice concern. As a result, “The attention of civil rights advocates has been largely devoted to other issues, such as affirmative action” (Alexander 9). She then states “My own experience reflects this dynamic” (Alexander 9).

When we think about the policies, laws and institutions that make up the criminal justice system we do not really think they could harm any one individual, they are there for all our good. However, when you think about it who made most of these laws? Wealthy white men. What else did wealthy white men control? Black slaves back before the Civil War. It is no wonder, then that there are many comparisons between mass incarceration and slavery. In her book The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander brings up the fact that “We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it” (p.2). I think that quote by itself explains how one becomes entrapped in this sticky web that is that the criminal justice system- that there are circumstances that put us a more risk than others to becoming stuck in this system.

The 1950s was a period of great conflict, particularly when segregation of African Americans was at its prime. Historically and evidently, African Americans have been fighting against segregation for decades. One would think that the 21st century would have a turn-around for African Americans but with all police brutality and prejudice against them, it feels as if America has been taken aback 200 years in history. The rate of progression for African Americans is basically non-existent. African Americans, everyday, have to live in fear of white people. Civil Rights Activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Goodman, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, etc. have dedicated and put their lives on the line in order to pursue equality for African Americans. Even with all the strenuous effort to bring change to the world, groups such as the Klu Klux Klan attacked them physically and mentally--making it more difficult to live in America. African Americans have always been treated as inferior and invisible from the beginning; and their existence was treated as if they did not exist as a real person at all. In her book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander’s writing centers and revolves around the claim that the criminal justice system cultivates and preserves a racial hierarchy that is present in America. Statistics derived from her research demonstrate that more than half of young African American men in any large American city are currently under constraints of the criminal justice