Summary Of The New Jim Crow

Alexander’s main premises focuses on the large majority of African American men imprisoned today, as she reflects on the direct result of it that “young black men today may be just as likely to suffer discrimination in employment, housing, public benefits. And jury service as a black man in the Jim Crow era- discrimination that is perfectly legal, because it is based on one’s criminal record.” (Alexander, 181) Alexander points out not only how a significant portion of black men are ending up in prison, but how when released they face discrimination because of their criminal record making them unable to rehabilitate their lives and putting them back into the ghetto. Discrimination is a main factor which puts people of color in the penal system, and a main factor which when getting out keeps them from changing their lifestyle for the better.

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.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book “The New Jim Crow”, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve to maintain African American people controlled by institutions. In this book her analyses is centered in examining the mass incarceration phenomenon in recent years. Comparing Jim Crow with mass incarceration she points out that mass incarceration is

“Orange Is the New Black” is a modern memoir that leads you through Piper Kerman’s experiences in Danbury, a women’s correctional facility, and shows you the life within the cold walls. Her words magnify the greatness within everybody, even the ones who have been thought to not even contain a heart, not even a soul within their body. The people who have been encaged, locked up behind bars. “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander is an extraordinarily-written modern book, completely opposite of Piper Kerman’s memoir. It shows the challenges that most of the colored and Latino men face once they are framed as a criminal, as well as the stereotypical treatment they receive as human beings. While Piper Kerman’s book shows the happiness and good in all the different types of people, gay, black, white, straight, transgender, Latino, Buddhist, Catholic, or a stone cold killer, Michelle Alexander points out the fact that African Americans are being treated the way they used to, being looked at no differently than slaves.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness was written by Michelle Alexander to expose the truth of racial injustice in the system of mass incarceration through the comparison of the racial control during the Jim Crow Era. She reveals how race plays an important role in the American Justice System. Alexander argues about the racial bias, particularly towards African-Americans, immanent in the war on drugs as a result of their lack of political power and how the Supreme Court tolerates this injustice.

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.

Alexander depiction of the criminal justice system as the “new Jim Crow,” I agree with this depiction. Moreover, to understand what Jim Crow of the 1950’s and 60’s were, fully grasp Alexander depiction of our current criminal justice system. Described by Alexander (2011) Jim Crow laws was placed throughout the South that institutionalized discrimination and racism. Blacks were denied the right to vote, access to education, employment, and housing. Consequently, allowing Alexander to draw her depiction of the “New Jim Crow.” As described by Alexander (2011) The mass incarceration of minorities.The denial of employment, housing and voting rights to people convicted of a felony crime. Thus, illustrating the correlation between the passed Jim Crow and as depicted by Alexander, the current “New Jim Crow.” The racial and class disparities are intersectionationalty. We see intersectionality within our current justice system. To understand, the racial disparities within our justice system as described by Krimsky and Simoncelli (2017) one must first understand the laws and the classification of crime that these disparities stand on. Moreover, the mere difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine holds different consequences under the law. However, these two illegal drugs are made of the same substance, one is in rock form, and the other powder. To highlight the discontinuous within our justice system, we find that blacks are more likely to use

Although the Jim Crow legislation system no longer exists, Alexander claims that this racial caste system has taken a different form in the society. Like the Jim Crow system, the incarceration system works to lock up black men though legal frames work. In fact, it is common to hear that black men are arrested much more than white men. In Alexander’s view, many black men are arrested and segregated in American

The book, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is about the mass incarceration of African Americans in the criminal justice system. It depicts individuals who were arrested on drug crimes. Because these individuals are labeled as criminals, it becomes difficult for them to find work, housing, and public assistance. (Alexander, 2010) The themes in this book include denial and ignorance, racism and violence, and drugs.

Racism is a thing of the past, or is it? Michelle Alexander’s, “The New Jim Crow,” main focus is on mass incarceration and how it occurs in an era of color blindness. Alexander also focuses on the social oppressions that African Americans have suffered throughout the years, until now. In this essay, I will discuss how the system of control was constructed, Alexander’s compelling historical analysis, and if the current system would be easier to dismantle. I would like to start by delving into how the system of control was constructed.

It is a widespread notion that the Thirteenth Amendment ended the unconstitutional enslavement of African Americans in the United States, declaring "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” Most Americans, however, do not take note of the loophole placed in the famed Thirteenth Amendment- slavery was deemed unconstitutional with the exception of being used as a ‘punishment for crime’. Michelle Alexander examines this loophole in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, arguing how mass incarceration has replaced slavery and Jim Crow to reduce black Americans to a second class status. Through

The New Jim Crow is a book that discusses how legal practices and the American justice system are harming the African American community as a whole, and it argues that racism, though hidden, is still alive and well in our society because of these practices. In the book, Michelle Alexander, author and legal scholar, argues that legal policies against offenders have kept and continue to keep black men from becoming first class citizens, and she writes that by labeling them as “criminals,” the justice system and society in general is able to act with prejudice against them and subordinate black Americans who were previously incarcerated, on probation, or on parole, by limiting their access to services as a result of their ‘criminal status’ and therefore, further degrading their quality of life. The New Jim Crow urges readers to acknowledge the injustice and racial disparity of our criminal justice system so that this new, more covert form of racism in society can be stopped.

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.

In the book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, gives the reader a look at the history of racism. She begins her work by talking about her working experience at ACLU (The American Civil Liberties Union) in northern California. Once she started working there, she realized how the criminal justice systems had problems of racial bias. As a lawyer who disputed numerous cases on discrimination, she understood that there are many ways in which racial stereotyping can change the subject decision making process at any level of organization. Moreover she decided to shift her focus from employment discrimination to working with others and finding out how to eliminate racial bias.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander examines different experiences she had while working for the American Civil Liberties Union in Oakland, California. While working at the ACLU, she saw numerous accounts of racial discrimination throughout the criminal justice system. Race and the criminal justice system play a big part in the ideology of the racial caste system, as well as gender and class.