The Mass Incarceration Of Black Men By Michelle Alexander

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 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.

Though most citizens in the United States would agree that the prison system in the U.S. needs to be amended, do they see the prison system as a way to enforce the racial caste system? At first Michelle Alexander, the author of The New Jim Crow, did not see the prison systems as racially motivated until doing further research. After researching the issue, Alexander found the prison system was a way to oppress African Americans and wrote the novel The New Jim Crow. The New Jim Crow follows the history of the racial caste system and in the novel Alexander comes to the conclusion that the mass incarceration of African American is the New Jim Crow, or in other words a new system of black oppression. Though some might try to refute the idea of mass incarceration of African Americans, Alexander offers a well thought out argument with substantial evidence and data to compellingly link Jim Crow and mass incarceration and proves that it is an issue that should be on the radar of all U.S. citizens.

ignorant mindset of others. It got to a point in which people of color did not

Now I will delve into the inner workings of our modern day society, and explain how all these influences creating perceptions creates the racist world we live in today. Today we look around, and many people let out a sigh of relief to see how far the world has come from the times when slavery still existed. It is important to realize how race is important even though it is just a word, and how ones identity can influence how they benefit from this world socially and politically. From the book “The new Jim crow”, Michelle Alexander argues that despite eradicating racist laws and policies like the ones that existed during Jim Crow’s time, there still exists a racial caste system that hides under things like the war on drugs, and leaves black people in a trap that is almost impossible to escape from. Alexander quotes Lerone Bennett

Though not promoted through media or public policy, Nixon also spoke about the need for social rehabilitation of drug abusers (“Richard Nixon-Remarks About an Intensified Program….” And “Special Message to Congress”). However, the Nixon administration settled on drug policies focusing on punishment and elimination of drug use, policies that became mainstream rhetoric and melded with America’s popular consciousness. Further, drug laws were historically created to target racial minorities (The House I Live In). Drug policies fuel the prison industrial complex which unfairly punishes racial minorities and those in economic distress. The rate for African-American incarceration is nearly six times the rate for Caucasian incarceration. (“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet”). Further, in 2004 incarcerated individuals had a pre-incarceration median income 41% less than non-incarcerated individuals of similar ages (“Prisons of Poverty”). The justice system and enforcement of anti-drug polices largely support racial and economic discrepancies in the prison system. Just like today people were scared of what drugs could do to their families and communities; thus, strict drug policy made sense at a national level. However, the legislative measures enacted during and since the Nixon era have created a malfunctioning criminal justice system that did not and continues to not accomplish what was

Michelle Alexander’s book is a contribution to nonviolent social change in the sense that she educates readers about the reality of America’s mass incarceration and racial caste system. According to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change”, the first two steps towards a nonviolent movement are information gathering and education; this is what Alexander achieves through her book. Information gathering is about understanding and collecting all vital information about the issues or injustices facing people or communities. Education focuses on informing others, including your adversary, about the issues; this step is imperative in minimizing

Alexander argues that racism has kept African Americans in prison, stripping them of their freedom, their right to vote, and their access to the mainstream economy. The author contends that this system of institutionalized racism, spurred on by the “War on Drugs” has resulted in a wave of mass incarceration of black and brown Americans. Her book documents that the United States accounts for 25% of the world's prison population. She points to the fact that, after slavery was abolished, black men were arrested on trumped up charges to force them into a new kind of slavery: the prison industrial system. She uses the term “mass incarceration” to describe the overwhelming number of black and brown people in “custody” in both the formal jail/prison system as well as outside the facilities on probation and

Following the abolition of slavery in 1865 through the 1950’s, Jim Crow created “discriminatory barriers” between whites and black through direct tactics such as segretation laws. (The New Jim Crow, page 34) However, in the 1960’s, when segregation and other Jim Crow laws could no longer be used as legal avenues, proponents began to promote the protection of “law and order” (The New Jim Crow, Alexander page 41) as a way to maintain racial hierarchy. Under President Reagan, during the 1980’s, the law and order rhetoric inspired the War on Drugs and a federal crackdown on crime. The War on Drugs inspired new legislation punishing drug offenders creating harsh civil penalties for drug offenders denying access to public housing, eliminating federal benefits, and increased length in sentencing terms. This resulted in “a new system of racialized social control…where discrimination in employment, housing, and access to education was perfectly legal.” (The New Jim Crow, Alexander, page 58) Through this new Jim Crow, legal institutions and structures are now the tools that are used to maintain inequality and access to resources, including

The U.S. penal population rose dramatically as a result of the War on Drugs. While this itself is striking, the most striking feature is the penal population’s racial dimension. According to Alexander, “No other country imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities” (6). This statement should not come as a shock. The reason for such a high number of minority imprisonment is racial discrimination. This was facilitated by the Supreme Court, which struck down Fourth Amendment constraints on the drug war and allowed law enforcement to conduct unreasonable searches on anyone they desired. Since there is “no meaningful check on the exercise of police discretion, racial biases are granted free rein” (Alexander 185). Thus, law enforcement specifically targeted minorities, resulting in a huge number of the minority population in prison. Some may argue that

Michelle Alexander addresses the issue of Mass Incarceration by discussing it in terms of race. She explains her approach by taking the reader through a historical analysis of African Americans in American society. You cannot begin to comprehend the issue behind Mass Incarceration without taking race into consideration. System of racial caste system mass incarceration functions to place people in an under-caste system of second class system. She starts by introducing the topic of structural racism and how African Americans are controlled by sanctioned legal limits. Her justification is that Mass Incarceration is intertwined arrangement of racial and social control (4). The system not only controls African Americans, but also Hispanics, and when these subjects go head to head with the justice system they are crushed by racial stratified laws. Alexander describes racial stratifies laws similar to a “racial caste system”. She uses the term to describe a group of people who are racially locked in an inferior position by law (12). Throughout history, the United States has been

Alexander’s main point is that this is the New Jim Crow and that our rhetoric of “colorblindness” disguises the reality of a new racial caste system and she have argued strenuously a the central claim made here- namely that something akin to a racial caste system currently exists in the United States. Indeed, if Barack Obama had been become president back then, she have argued that his election marked the nation's triumph over racial caste.My conviction that to be traveled to reach the promised land of racial justice in US, but nothing like Crow has been existed.She explains that it “a stigmatized racial group locked into an inferior position by law and custom” . The criminal justice system is the gateway into the larger system of marginalization. Americans people have a difficult time talking about the race and class. Many black Americans people they cannot move yet, and they dont sharing anything with the society. She was cheery with Obama’s election and saw Jim Crow as something from the past. She did not see a new racial caste system yet, and when she started her job at the ACLU she find out that there was racial bias in the criminal justice system.Most people think the War on Drugs was created as a response to the crack cocaine crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, Some in the black community thought the War on Drugs was part of a government plan to facilitate the genocide of black people. This was not the same as what they say, but the guerilla armies that the CIA supported

The New Jim Crow is a book about racism, and mass incarceration. Many individuals were punished for being African American, and that led to them being put in prisons. Alexander starts her story off with a comparison, one that is deep and meaningful to oneself. The comparison is between an incarcerated black male, Jarvious Cotton, and his family members which who were denied basic rights as a result of slavery. As far as racism today, individuals would like a change, but is unlikely. This book summarizes how racism and mass incarceration play a major role in society and how many African Americans are labeled as felons. Discrimination played a huge role as well, although Alexander stated that “today it is perfectly legal to discriminate,” (p. 2). Race, war on drugs, and mass incarceration are three concepts that Alexander describes as always having an effect on individuals that are considered black. The color of their skin puts a label on them and individuals automatically believe that

In her book, The New Jim Crow, legal scholar Michelle Alexander explores how the American criminal justice system, specifically “The War on Drugs”, has disproportionately affected African Americans. According to the US census, only 13% of the US population is “black”, but they comprise 40% of the prison population (CITE). This stark disparity is made even more startling considering that people of color are no more likely than white people to commit many crimes, especially drug crimes (Alexander, 177). Alexander asserts that the discrepancy is a result of racist police tactics, racialized media campaigns, and other racist interventions which effectively create a racial caste system; she dubs this phenomenon: Mass Incarceration.

In the novel the new Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander expresses how mass incarceration is a form of racial control. She argues that Jim Crow laws were not diminished but simply revised to suppress the minorities in America. It is vital to understand the prejudice and unjust works of the courts and political system.