One policy one could examine to see its implications on incarceration rates in the United States is the “War on Drugs.” This war has taken place since the Nixon administration in the 1970s, and aims to eliminate the possession, importation, and solicitation of illegal substances. This war has multiple fronts in which people are currently fighting, but the domestic theatre of war is a culprit for this rise of incarceration rates. Bobo and Thompson examined this phenomenon and found, “rapid increase in incarceration rates can be traced to the "War on Drugs" and associated sentencing practices” (451). The “War on Drugs” can be seen taking place in predominately urban impoverished African-American communities. As a result, more African-Americans are being arrested for drug crimes, whether they be petty possession misdemeanor crimes or more serious felony solicitation of illegal substance crimes. Further, since these areas are more impoverished, individuals will look for other ways in order to generate income in order to support themselves and their
... be read by all potential prosecutors, legislators, or judges. The negative and disparate impact of the “War on Drugs” has its roots in law and in jurisprudence. Yet in the legal field little to no discussion is made concerning the disparate impact and instead it is passed off as being a problem with no logical solution. After reading the book, the problem with mass incarceration of being racially discriminatory makes much more sense and there seems to be a logical solution. In order to stop mass incarceration and the disproportionate impact on African American communities, laws perpetuated under the “War on Drugs” need to be, at a minimum, curtailed to decrease the interest of law enforcement in the economic benefits and also to allow civil rights allegations to be allowed under the criminal justice system. Alexander made a very compelling argument in her book.
The Black Majority was written by, Peter H. Wood. Wood was born to Mary Lee and Barry Wood. He grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and later went to Harvard University where he received a Ph.D. The Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion is one of Wood’s greatest accomplishments. The book has been awarded prizes and was incorporated into how historians studied African American History.
She revealed her own personal experiences as a civil rights attorney and stories from others who are incarcerated. Alexander convincingly provided facts throughout her book to demonstrate the enormity of African-Americans that remain under correctional control from the war on drugs. For instance, “In less than thirty years, the U.S. penal population exploded from around 300,000 to more than 2 million, with drug convictions accounting for the majority of the increase” (Alexander, 2012, p. 6). This statistical data is relevant because it supports one of her main points that mass incarceration in the U.S. Criminal Justice System is the New Jim Crow that perpetuates racial hierarchy in the United States (Alexander, 2012). Additionally, Alexander’s objective for providing statistical data was to incite a new social movement about the racial disparities in the penal
Constitution, there are more slaves than at any time in human history -- 27 million”. The African American Community is still “enslaved” to an idea that some of their lives can be bought and worth so very little. “Today’s slavery focuses on big profits and cheap lives. It is not about owning people like before, but about using them as completely disposable tools for making money” (McNally). Along with exploitation through the workforce and big business, this population continues on with day to day struggles such as profiling and misjudgment of their character based on their physical appearance and stature in certain areas of the country. Our criminal justice system exploits the minority by jailing their generations. Government systems fund for “fundamental testing” to the younger crowd of African Americans as well as the poorer minorities and neighborhoods for future projections of increased incarceration to come. Juvenile justice systems serve as a barrier between teen and adult criminality but make it possible for a widespread of ages in the black community to be held captive. Children and teens are impressionable in both negative and positive ways. More often than not, kids and teens alike stay in the system after being exposed to the condemning life of “crime” and soar through the system even in the days of adulthood after early exposure to the unequal way things work in the criminal justice
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a thorough and thought provoking analysis of mass incarceration in America. Through this book Alexander explores the dynamics of the criminal justice system and the propaganda that enables it which have led to the establishment and maintenance of a racial undercaste system that has been perpetuated by a felony criminal record. Within this book Alexander provides a history of the disenfranchisement of the black male from the overt racism of slavery and Jim Crow to the colorblind drug and sentencing policies of the 20th and 21st century.
Often times, people say "you can 't understand another person 's experience until you walk a mile in their shoes." John Howard Griffin did this, however he still does not understand what it is truly like the be a minority. Minorities are not allowed to switch their color on or off. We don 't have days where we are allowed to pick and choose if we want to be White or Black, Mexican, or Asian. Although yes, he did experience racial discrimination and was involved in incidents that were clearly unjust, and this is truly what happens to black people, even to this day, he still does not know what it 's like to be truly black.
The Pledge of Allegiance, created over a century ago, contains one of the most problematic statements in society: “liberty and justice for all”. Despite the remote attempts of the government to alleviate the obstacles that Richard Wright, an advocate of civil rights, endured in 1937, Michelle Alexander, another advocate of civil rights, in 2012 unveils that up to this day the obstacles are nearly the same. In essence, disregarding the 125 years of difference the situation has not changed radically, thus allowing the challenges of inequality to remain under the table. In particular ways, the United States is moderately becoming more racially just and ethical, with actions taken by the government such as affirmative action and the abolition of
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 a network of laws, policies, customs and institutions that works together –almost invisible– to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined by race, African American (p. 178 -190).
Racism is not a factor of the heart, according to Tommie Shelby in “Is Racism in the ‘Heart’?” He writes “the ‘heart’ does not have to be involved in order for an action or institution to be racist” (483). Instead, Shelby argues that racism is based on the effect of a person’s actions on deepening racist institutions or promulgating the oppression of a particular group of people based on their race. The individual intention of a person or the “purity” or his or her heart does not take precedence over the effect of his or her actions. Shelby’s argument is constructed as follows: Individual beliefs can be true or false but not inherently immoral. Therefore, it is not appropriate to morally condemn someone for holding a particular belief. However, when the particular belief leads to “race-based hatred...actions...or institutions” that is when it becomes appropriate to hold the individual with the belief morally culpable for racism.
In this book The New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander gives a look at history racism of African-Americans in relations to slavery and brings us to into modern day racism. Not racism as a form of calling people names or by the means of segregation which would be considered overt racism condemned by society but by colorblindness and by a racial caste system. Alexander argues African-Americans are being discriminated against in the form of mass incarceration. “Mass incarceration refers not only to the criminal justice system but also to the larger web of laws, rules, polices, and customs that control those labeled criminals both in and out of prison” (Alexander 2012, pg 14). Upon reading The New Jim Crow I believe African – Americans continue to be discriminated against in silent ways that are deemed acceptable by society and the criminal justice system.
As Elie Wiesel once stated, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented” (“Elie Wiesel Quote”). Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow, which discusses criminal justice and its role in mass incarceration, promotes a similar idea regarding silence when America’s racial caste system needs to be ended; however, Alexander promotes times when silence would actually be better for “the tormented.” The role of silence and lack of silence in the criminal justice system both contribute to wrongly accused individuals and growing populations behind bars.
Alexander attempts to show by means of cultural and historical review, political decisions, enactment of legislation and statistical evidence from the time of the old Jim Crow laws, the retarded advancement of civil rights of young black men, and their mass incarceration. This occurrence produces a false reality and perpetuates the history of racial discrimination that exists today in America through a "caste system" by legal framework that disguising itself as the "War on Drugs." The practice of mass incarceration labels and demonizes those persons to the point that they lose their rights to vote, limits employment, are denied housing and educatio...
Michelle Alexander calls the contemporary moment of mass incarceration “the new racial equilibrium.” According to Alexander, “More African American adults are under correctional control today—in prison or jail, on probation or parole—than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.” Making up only 5 percent of the global population, the United States imprisons 25 percent of the world’s inmates. Modern histories of state violence, including police brutality and the mass incarceration of Black people, have not only significantly impacted the lives of African Americans, but also have informed the contemporary Movement for Black Lives.
The war on drugs, a war made invisible to society, but one of the most destructive wars in our nation today.Politician’s call it a successful proposition for the nation, following the motto- go hard or go home,Politician's Increasing the sentencing of drug related crimes by the hour, Law enforcements cleaning up the streets.Locking up every drug offender that cross their paths. Politicians and law enforcements making the war on drugs a number one priority for our nation's wealth and safety.Politicians believing these method will teach the drug offenders a lesson and stop corrupting our streets. Government official’s call it a successful investment for our country.More prisons systems mean more employment opportunities for our government employees. Its a win win situation ,employment increase and drug offenders are off the streets. you would think?