The Rebirth Of A Caste : Reflection Analysis

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.

Our group chose the topic of mass incarceration because it is extremely relevant in this day and age. There are hundreds of thousands of American citizens that have been incarcerated for a variety of crimes. When mass incarceration was first introduced it was unknowingly supporting the “War on Drugs”, which we will go into more detail in the paper. The war on drugs inevitably became a war on people. The penalties of carrying different types of drugs became more severe, and those who were caught by the police were minority groups especially young African American men. The consequences of mass incarceration occur in more than just a jail cell. Once prisoners are released, it is extremely difficult to become employed once there is a conviction following your name. Even as supporters of The Black Lives Matter Movement protested against the unfair treatment of African Americans, those who resisted against authorities were imprisoned. Throughout this paper we will see the sociological perspective of mass incarceration on todays society.

In Chapter, one The Rebirth of Caste examines the history of racial social control in the United States. Alexander refers to the shifting forms and habitual patterns of "racial caste" system. She vies that proponents of "racial hierarchy" have been able to guarantee its recurrence after effective ends following the end of slavery and the dismantling of the original Jim Crow. She describes the starting point of it all is to bring about the separation of the poor whites and blacks; creating a hierarchy in the United States social class. The author believes this is possible largely, by appealing to the biases and uncertainties of lower-class whites. This caste-based system has existed in three different forms: slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration. Alexander’s important influence is to show how each of these forms was brought about deliberately and how, in its latest form of mass incarceration, the caste system continues to achieve its aims of segregation.

As a legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, blatant racism is no longer viewed as acceptable social behavior. However, the absence of blatant individual racism cannot be equated to the absence of structural racial discrimination. With the Thirteenth Amendment preserving slavery as punishment in the prison system, criminality is being manipulated by the media to be associated with race. We see the full effects of the overrepresentation with War on Drugs legislation, which are policies that categorized drug use as a crime instead of health issue pushed forward by the Reagan administration. The master narrative of the criminality painted the legislation as colorblind, or nondiscriminatory, policies that will benefit all citizens and created

In today’s modern world, many people would be surprised to find out that there is still a racial caste system in America. After witnessing the election of a black president, people have started believing that America has entered a post-racial society. This is both a patently false and dangerous mindset. The segregation and stigma of race is still very much alive in our society. Instead of a formalized institution such as slavery or Jim Crow, America has found a new way to continue the marginalization of blacks by using the criminal justice system. In Michelle Alexander’s book “ The New Jim Crow”, she shows how America’s “ War on Drugs “ has become a tool of racial segregation and how the discretionary enforcement of drug laws has

After rejecting conservatives’ idea that criminal behaviors are caused by black culture, Alexander said that poverty and inequality are the “root causes” of crimes. She then includes a quote from Lyndon Johnson, “there is something mighty wrong when a candidate for the highest office bemoans violence in the streets but votes against the war on poverty, votes against the civil rights act and votes against major educational bills that come before him as a legislator” (45). Alexander uses this quote to criticize politicians who purport that they want to reinstall “law and order” but vote against bills that fight the antecedents of crimes. This may spark a series of questions in the reader, such as “if their motive is really to reinstall “law and order,” why aren’t trying to eliminate the origin of crimes? Why are they ignoring them instead? Alexander is insinuating that these politicians want minorities in prison, where they can control them, supporting her argument that the government always tries to control minorities. This also supports her argument that the “war on drug” and “law and order” movements represent the new form control system in the United States.

Racism effects the the high incarceration rates according to Michelle Alexander, the author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. This scholar writes about how the civil rights movement has been taken back by the mass incarceration of black Americans in the war on drugs. Alexander also explains how the severe consequences that these black men carry on after being incarcerated, for example not being able to get school grants or housing. The author continues to argues that all it takes is a major social movement to end americas new caste system and that it is inhumane to treat any race less then the other. Agreeing with Alexander, I believe that every race deserves equal opportunity and that high mass incarceration rates are the way they are because of racism by the criminal justice system.

Is racism dead? In “The Rebirth of Caste” by Michelle Alexander, Alexander talks about the evolution that racism has gone through to become what is today. Racism has evolved throughout the years from slavery to segregation to criminalization to mass incarceration, all while many have become so oblivious to the issue, that many don’t even realize that such a problem still exists today. In “The Curious Grammar of Police Shootings” by Radley Balko, Balko talks about how politicians and police use syntax and grammar to deflect blame from themselves to primarily African-Americans or Hispanics. Alexander defines the new racial caste system as a system that through institutionalized racism has consistently put disenfranchised African-Americans at the bottom of a new caste system. Balko sheds light on the fact that police are not held accountable for their actions and that the racial stigmas of the 21st century still cause many African-Americans and minorities to face discrimination from the very people who had sworn to protect them. Alexander’s arguments support Balko’s claim through the inherent use of historical context, formal tones, and persuasive language to show how racism has continued for far too long.

Alexander states that the single greatest contributor to this mass incarceration in the United States is the “war on drugs”. Studies consistently indicate that people of all races use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates. However, the drug war has been waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color. Therefore, an overflow of black and

In the documentary ‘Incarcerating US’ they discussed the issue of how the growth of incarceration is becoming extremely ridiculous. It introduced several issues with the system along with a few concepts to resolve the criminal justice system. For the US to be only 5% of the population, but have 25% of the incarceration rate, the US has the largest prison population. Throughout the documentary they allowed inmates to share their personal experiences/stories about what decision they made to make them receive time in prison. In the movie it discussed the war on drugs that was once considered to be the major issue. Instead of going against the issue head on it was decided that it would be better to attack those that are using the drug. There is

Social conflict between African-Americans and the government is nothing new. The theory of social conflict states that the more powerful groups in society use their power to exploit those groups with less power. In this case, the United States government would be the powerful group, exploiting less powerful African-Americans. The war on drugs is best known for its drastic increases in mandatory sentencing, specifically on offenses relating to crack cocaine, something that was known to be prominent in inner city communities because of its low cost. With the government’s implementation of these harsh sentences, many African-Americans found with paraphernalia or tiny amounts of crack cocaine were jailed for a minimum of 5 years, with charges of distribution ranging from 10 year sentences to life imprisonment. This disparity can easily be seen by the difference between crack and powdered cocaine’s sentencing laws, with cocaine carrying exponentially lower jail time, mostly because it was more expensive and those using it at the time were predominantly wealthier Whites. The

Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness outlines how the criminal justice system has systematically designed new methods of discriminating against African Americans. The book advocates for racial justice, specifically, for African Americans and contends they [African Americans] were targeted and subsequently incarcerated, by white voters and public officials, through the War on Drugs campaign. President Reagan and his Administration exploited racial hostility or resentment for his own political gain and administered cash grants to law enforcement agencies that made drug enforcement a priority. “Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book written by Michelle Alexander. This book explains the mass incarceration that African-American males faced in the United States. Alexander uses many examples of discrimination throughout the book, but the most prevailing one to me was how the criminal justice system used to the War on Drugs. Alexander describes a “racial caste system” as a way that African-Americans are kept at a lower social standing then the white people. The way that Alexander presents her arguments allows we the reader to see the true racism that was faced by African- Americans. This book gives many arguments but there are some main arguments that Alexander stresses throughout the book that

Michelle Alexander talks about racial justice and mass incarceration in The New Jim Crow. There is such a high rate of incarceration in the United States. The drug war today is doomed to fail, especially because drugs dealers will replace one another. This war consists of drug related crimes and violence. Suspects of drug wars are racially discriminated by law enforcement officials. Most dealers and users are white. Three out of four of imprisoners for drug offenders are Latino or African American. Police subject the poor and look into ghettos for drugs. In the 1980s, police officers focused on white crack users rather than black, later shifted its attention and gave everyone

Many people in the United States believe that there is full equality in this country between races but they do not realize what some African American’s still go through today. An enormous number of African Americans cannot vote because a felon cannot vote. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans have served time in prison as a result of drug convictions and are branded felons for life. Voting is also barred for those currently incarcerated. Alexander uncovers the system of mass incarceration: a system comprised of laws, rules, policies, and customs that control criminals both in and out of prison. The greatest instigator of mass incarceration is the War on Drugs. Rather than combat drug activity, the War on Drugs has served as a deliberate strategy to control people of color and remove them from the political process, which is racist in both application and design. Alexander suggests that the War on Drugs and mass incarceration constitute a "rebirth of caste" in America. Beginning with slavery and continuing with Jim Crow segregation, mass