The book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” (“The New Jim Crow”) hits on many significant points concerning the criminal justice system and the systemically racial elements that have been perpetuated through various laws. As argued in the book, the “War on Drugs” has been used to perpetuate racial discrimination against African Americans since the 1980s and the Reagan Administration. My personal reflection on the book comes from a legal perspective. Within the world
first African American President, Barack Obama, a greater number and acceptance of interracial marriages, affirmative action, and less overt signs of discrimination, America is essentially in an “Age of Colorblindness” (Alexander, 2012). On the contrary, authors Douglas Blackmon and Michelle Alexander, argue that there is more to American history than what meets the eye. Published in 2008, Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II written by
This essay will be focusing on the incarceration and war on drug of black community and minority in the United State. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander discuss who the war on drug effect minority in American. What will be discuss in this paper or the question I will be answering are How has the War in Drugs impacted low-income people and communities of color, particularly African Americans? How has the Drug War disenfranchised a large segment of the American population? How have race and class
decade before the Civil War began (Alexander 180). Throughout history, there have been multiple racial caste systems in the United States. In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander defines a “racial caste” as “a racial group locked into an inferior position by law and custom” (12). Alexander argues that both Jim Crow and slavery functioned as racial caste systems, and that our current system of mass incarceration functions as a similar caste system
The New Jim Crow Review I agree with Michelle Alexander on her view of mass incarceration, as well as the new racial caste system that has evolved in the United States. She states that, “we have not ended racial caste in America, we have merely redesigned it”. After reading her book The New Jim Crow, her point of view on the age of colorblindness is extremely bold. Over time, it has developed into many forms. The racial systems have evolved from exploitation, to subordination, to marginalization
The work by Victor M. Rios entitled Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness depict ways in which policing and incarceration affect inequalities that exist in society. In this body of work I will draw on specific examples from the works of Victor M. Rios and Michelle Alexander to fulfill the tasks of this project. Over the course of the semester and by means of supplemental readings, a few key
our class discussions and now I see why. Our class is titled “The American Experience”. Through this book Michelle Alexander exhibits and divulges the African American, American Experience. Starting from slavery and concluding with mass incarceration, African Americans’ American experience has been one of great agony and suffering, all at the hand of our American justice system. Although Alexander, for the most part, is speaking on the African American struggle, she also mentions the struggle of poor
Living in the Era of Mass Incarceration and Racial Indifference The Old Jim Crow (1.0) was a racial caste system that took away the rights of African Americans; it was used after slavery ceased to be efficacious (regarding the making of money). Built on white supremacy, the Old Jim Crow laws established a rift between poor white farmers and blacks in order to prevent any alliances between the whites and blacks. Moreover, Jim Crow encouraged violence to maintain the racial system and to keep blacks
everyday life experiences. The dynamics of racial oppression and privilege with the United States is incredibly complex ranging from the time of establishment to present day. The present day racial inequality within the criminal justice system and incarceration rates has peaked in the United States over the last 30 years. According to the NAACP the number of incarcerated individual has quadruples from roughly 500.00 to 2.3 million people. In 2008 African American and Hispanics comprised of 58% of the
While Jim Crow dominated the social landscape of the South for much of the 20th century, formal segregation and acts of racism also existed in the North during this time. Blacks who moved to the North in the Great Migration after the First World War might have been able to live without the same degree of oppression experienced in the South, however the elements of racism and discrimination still existed. Despite the work by abolitionist, life for free blacks was still harsh because of northern racism