What Is Mass Incarceration In The New Jim Crow Essay
opinion Essay
1474 words
The Jim Crow laws were established and came about in the beginning of the 1880s and these laws were created to legalize segregation between African American and Caucasians. This book the New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness explains the mass incarceration of African Americans in the war on drugs. The text explains how it is said that most drug dealers are said to be black or brown, and that the War on Drugs is a racist conspiracy to put “blacks” back in their place. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world largely due to the war on drugs. The war on drugs came about during the late 1980s and it was said to target African Americans. This is one of the most important root causes in the increase …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains how racism plays a major role in the criminal justice system and describes how african americans are the main targets in racial profiling.
- Opines that racial discrimination, along with the war on drugs, was the main reason why one in every fourteen african americans was behind bars in 2006 compared to one hundred and six caucasian males.
- Opines that the end to mass incarceration would require all racial discrimination to cease and for everyone to come together to gain peace & equal treatment.
- Explains that the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness focuses on the war on drugs and racial profiling.
According to the New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, drug arrests have tripled since 1980 and more than thirty one million people have been incarcerated for drug offenses since the drug war began. Nothing has contributed to the mass incarceration of African Americans in the United States more than the war on drugs. At the end of 2007, more than seven million people were behind bars, on probation, or on …show more content…
Becoming a convicted felon could change a person’s life within the blink of an eye. As stated earlier, it becomes harder for the individual to find employment and obtain housing in addition to hindering one’s opportunity to vote. Many felons resort back to old habits and end up becoming repeat offenders, in turn, making prison a home for themselves. The war on drugs, in my opinion, will never cease because I feel like there will always be drugs in the world and there will always be buyers and suppliers. At the end of the day, economics are important and it all comes down to supply & demand. I also think it will never end based on the fact that being a felon makes it harder for individuals to obtain a job. As a result of this, most of these men turn to selling drugs to make a living. I think the criminal justice system should change things in regards to the hardships felons have to deal with once they become apart of the system. There are some individuals who actually learn their lesson once they are incarcerated for so long. These are the individuals who deserve a second chance in life—no matter what has happened in their past. Felons are frowned upon when they are released from prison, but I feel that even though they
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- Michelle Alexander War On Drugs Summaryanalytical essayShe describes that the mass incarceration policies that were made are a “comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow”(Alexander2016). The War on Drugs escalated quickly in 1982 with the Reagan administration, claiming that they were responding to the crack cocaine epidemic that was going on around black neighborhoods and ghettos. The Reagan administration actually were contributing to the high rise of crack cocaine consumption in the US, mainly inner cities. Alexander points out that the Drug on War had escalated way before 1982, in the mid 1980’s the use of crack cocaine had escalated so quickly that they Federal Drug authorities had to publicize the issue and use scare tactics to try to get control over the
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how michelle alexander starts her book by taking us on a trip back in time to the start of it all: the civil war.
- Analyzes how michelle breaks down the caste system into three parts: slavery, jim crow and the mass incarceration. she explains how segregation is making an approach in today's society.
- Analyzes how michelle alexander gives examples throughout the book about how the economy is collapsing, racism is still alive, and the war on drugs is increasing.
- Analyzes how the war on drugs escalated quickly in 1982 with the reagan administration, claiming that they were responding to the crack cocaine epidemic.
- Explains how the war on drugs has the most impact on african americans in these inner city neighborhoods.
- Opines that jim crow laws are hidden within our society, and that 80% of african americans have some sort of criminal record.
- Analyzes how african americans have had a lot of achievements throughout the years, including obama becoming the first african american president.
- Opines that if the book wasn't so dry, it would be a good book.
- Opines that the paper was a good refresher and helps when she goes back and forth and makes connections between then and now. she really does open your eyes and make you realize that this caste system is alive.
1091 wordsRead More - Racialized Mass Incarceration in Americaexplanatory essayIn the United States, the rate of incarceration has increased shockingly over the past few years. In 2008, it was said that one in 100 U.S. adults were behind bars, meaning more than 2.3 million people. Even more surprising than this high rate is the fact that African Americans have been disproportionately incarcerated, especially low-income and lowly educated blacks. This is racialized mass incarceration. There are a few reasons why racialized mass incarceration occurs and how it negatively affects poor black communities.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that racialized mass incarceration affects poor black communities, especially low-income and lowly educated blacks.
- Explains that blacks are overly portrayed in jails and prisons. bobo and thompson stated that in 1954, 98,000 african americans were in prison or prison; by 2002, there was an increase of 900%.
- Explains that african americans are discriminated against by the legal system because of inequitable protection and unequal enforcement.
- Explains that racialized mass incarceration takes place because of the high rates of poverty and unemployment for inner city african americans, especially those with low-education and low skill levels.
- Explains that the war on drugs is concentrated on cocaine and even more so on crack cocaine. crack cocaine is sold more in urban, public, black environments where it is more susceptible for police to monitor drug trafficking.
- Explains that imprisoning a large number of people has had detrimental effects in black communities. social networks are harmed because fathers, brothers, and uncles are taken away from supportive family and community.
- Explains that racialized mass incarceration is when a specific race is more than others. the effects are detrimental to the community by taking away key members and destroying social norms
622 wordsRead More - The War On Drugs: The New Jim Crowanalytical essayThe War on Drugs is believed to help with many problems in today’s society such as realizing the rise of crime rates and the uprooting of violent offenders and drug kingpin. Michelle Alexander explains that the War on Drugs is a new way to control society much like how Jim Crow did after the Civil War. There are many misconceptions about the War on Drugs; commonly people believe that it’s helping society with getting rid of those who are dangerous to the general public. The War on Drugs is similar to Jim Crow by hiding the real intention behind Mass Incarceration of people of color. The War on Drugs is used to take away rights of those who get incarcerated. When they plead guilty, they will lose their right to vote and have to check application
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the war on drugs is a new way to control society much like how jim crow did after the civil war.
- Analyzes how the war on drugs stereotypizes colored people and minorities to fulfill the government's desires and needs.
- Explains that people who cycle in and out of prison are violent offenders, but not all cases. the war on drugs is being used to control the population much like jim crow did.
- Explains that the war on drugs was to prevent a population of people from their legal rights as citizens. mass incarceration is the hidden motive under the war on drugs.
- Explains that mass incarceration is hidden behind the well-known title of the war on drugs. it stereotypes people to convict them of felonies and to prevent people of color and the lower class of their rights.
1241 wordsRead More - Drugs and its Offendersopinion essay"Race and Prison | Drug War Facts." Welcome | Drug War Facts. 2000-2008. Web. 05 Apr. 2010. .
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the united states has the world's highest incarceration rate, and argues that nonviolent drug offenders should not be in prison and what can be done to reduce the crime associated with the drug trade.
- Explains that drugs cause violence, and there is evidence that shows a positive correlation between drug use and violent and property crime. making drugs illegal raises the price of obtaining that good.
- Explains that the leftward shift of the supply schedule (s2) causes a larger decrease in supply than in demand (d2), which causes an increase in price from p1 to p2. violent crime can be explained through drug selling gangs.
- Explains that the cost of locking non-violent drug offenders up outweighs the estimated benefits by a long shot.
- Argues that if drugs were legal, the supply schedule would shift a greater distance to the right than demand, thus causing the price to drop.
- Argues that if the us makes a punishment harsher for smaller crimes (drug use/selling), the likelihood of the next, more damaging crime increases.
- Analyzes the state of illinois and its drug penalties for drug possession. they conclude that most drug users and dealers do not obtain any higher education beyond high school.
- Opines that non-violent drug offenders should not be labeled as criminals, and that the government should be focused on stopping violent crimes before they focus on victimless crimes.
- Opines that criminals convicted of non-violent crimes should face jail terms. helium - where knowledge rules.
- Explains that hellman, daryl a., and neil alper. economics of crime: theory and practice.
- Explains illinois wesleyan university's "illinois drug laws."
- Describes levitt, steven d., and sudhir a. venkatesh. an economic analysis of a drug-selling gang's finances
- Explains miller, roger leroy, daniel k. benjamin, and douglass cecil. the economics of public issues, 16th ed.
- Opines that "race and prison | drug war facts" is available at drugwarfacts.org.
- Opines that webb's 'we are locking up too many people who do not belong in jail' - hit & run.
1822 wordsRead More - ' The New Jim Crow, By Michelle Alexanderanalytical essayThe war on drugs was used as a defense mechanism to gain social control over people of color through mass incarceration, thereby reincarnating a racial caste system in our country. Alexander defines caste as a “stigmatized racial group locked into an inferior position by law and custom. Jim Crow and slavery were caste systems. So is our current system of mass incarceration (Alexander, 2012). “The most obvious parallel between mass incarceration and Jim Crow “is legalized discrimination” (Alexander, 2012, p. 17). However, the success of the election of the first African-American President, Barack Obama, causes Blacks to believe that racism has been defeated
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the war on drugs was used to gain social control over people of color through mass incarceration, thereby reincarnating a racial caste system in our country.
- Argues that mass incarceration symbolizes a caste system, which legalized racial discrimination against african-americans.
- Argues that education reform and the new jim crow era produce an underclass specifically aimed at african american males. the educational system mirrors the criminal justice system.
- Analyzes how michelle alexander's book the new jim crow demonstrates the enormity of african-americans that remain under correctional control from the war on drugs.
- Opines that a social movement is necessary, but it should also address the "educational apartheid" in inner-city schools.
1005 wordsRead More - Michelle Alexander wrote a book called "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness." The original Jim Crow was a racial caste system that segregated whites from blacks, where whites were privileged and viewed as the chosen ones while blacks were taught to be minority and used as servants between 1877 and the 1960s. The Jim Crow system kept whites superior to blacks with laws created to keep whites favored. It was a legal way to prevent African Americans from getting an equal education, from voting; it was a system of "Separate but Equal". In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed to outlaw discrimination due to ones skin color. Although this act was passed we still continue to live in a society where discrimination is quite relevant but systemized. Through Michelle Alexander's book we can understand her argument that there is a new form of legal discrimination although laws state that discriminating an individual because of their race is illegal. Michelle explains that there is a current mass incarceration among black men in the United States. The use of, possession of, or selling drugs is illegal but it has been systematically created that laws make it impossible to. She claims that the criminal justice system uses the War on Drugs as a way to discriminate and repress the black man.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes michelle alexander's book, "the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness," which argues that the criminal justice system uses the war on drugs to discriminate and repress the black man.
- Analyzes michelle's claim that african american men have been labeled to be the race attached to deviant acts. the criminal justice system created laws which make it where there is a mandatory minimum of time that must be served for the smallest amount of drugs.
- Analyzes how eugene jarecki's "the house i live" gave viewers a great visual on what exactly the war on drugs entails.
- Analyzes how shanequa sells and uses drugs as a way of surviving because her day job just isn't enough.
- Explains that the us has the highest population of incarcerated individuals in the world. maurice tiwanger was arrested for 50 grams of cocaine and served 20 years for drug convictions.
- Analyzes how drug dealers are individuals children look up to in low-class communities because they help families pay bills, put food on the table, and others in their communities.
- Opines that the war on drugs has become a viscous cycle because it has taken so much of the black race and incarcerated them for drug crimes for as long as murder crimes.
829 wordsRead More - The United States should decriminalize drugsargumentative essayIn 1971, President Richard Nixon declared, “America's public enemy number one in the United States [sic] is drug abuse.” Since then, the United States has spent over $1 trillion and lost hundreds of thousands of lives trying to combat drug abuse. The results show very little progress: from 1998 to 2008, use of opiates, cocaine and cannabis increased 34.5%, 27% and 8.5% respectively. Not only has use increased, but the drug trade has progressed as an industry--the price of popular illicit drugs decreased 80% from 1990 to 2007, but the purity of heroin, cocaine and cannabis samples have increased by 60%, 11% and 161% respectively. In addition, many of the policies put in place to deter drug use have proven to be racially unjust. In 1995, the US Sentencing Commission advised Congress that mandatory minimums on crack vs powder cocaine were racist. The penalty for selling crack was 100 times more severe than for the same amount of powder cocaine (because crack was cheaper and easier to get). 90% of crack convictions were of African American citizens, although the majority of cocaine users were white. However, Congress ignored the Commission (this was the first time they did so in its history). In 2011, the story was similar--African Americans constitute 13% of the population, and 13% of drug users, but 38% of drug arrests, and 59% of drug convictions. Our drug policies and their enforcers need to be part of a fair and just system that minimizes the societal damage drugs cause, instead of increasing it. The war on drugs is not efficient, effective, or impartial; evidence suggests a better solution would include decriminalizing most drugs, placing an emphasis on education and treatment, and legalizing and taxing marijuana.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the war on drugs is not efficient, effective, or impartial; a better solution would include decriminalizing most drugs, placing an emphasis on education and treatment, and taxing marijuana.
- Analyzes how the united states is moving toward sensible drug policies. the "war on drugs" slogan was counterproductive. decriminalization has bipartisan support.
- Explains that drug use is a serious issue in the us, and that treatment has proven more effective than enforcement in reducing substance abuse.
- Explains that drug enforcement costs $40 billion per year, including incarceration. legalization would save $7.7 billion, and generate $6 billion in tax revenue.
- Proposes legalizing and taxing cannabis and decriminalizing the use of other controlled substances, instead of having offenders attend a treatment program, with no mandatory minimums.
668 wordsRead More - Crack Cocaine And Crack Cocaine In The United Statesanalytical essayThe Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution provide United States citizens with two basic rights—that “no person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law” (Amendment V) and that “no state shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law” (Amendment XIV). However, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 created a clearly unequal weight on the sentencing of powder cocaine versus crack cocaine. The mandatory minimum sentence for someone with one gram of crack was the same as the mandatory minimum for someone with one hundred grams of powder cocaine. In the 1970s, cocaine soared in popularity and was praised as a recreational drug, a perception that persisted until the introduction of crack cocaine in 1985 (Edward, Jill, David, & David). Crack cocaine, a mix of baking soda, water, and powder cocaine, became the less expensive way to use cocaine; thus, the drug rose in popularity especially in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods. Thus, it became consequently popular with the working class and minorities, namely African Americans. Because of the popularity of crack in poorer neighborhoods in a society where socioeconomic status and race overlap often, arrest numbers for African Americans caught with crack sky rocketed. A special report of the US Sentencing Commission stated that “while there is no evidence of a racial bias behind…this federal sentencing law, nearly 90 percent of the offenders convicted in federal court for crack cocaine distribution are African American while the majority of crack cocaine users is white. Thus, the sentences appear to be harsher…for racial minorities…[which] results in a perception of unfairness” (USSC 1997). The special report also...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the anti-drug abuse act of 1986 created an unequal weight on the sentencing of powder cocaine versus crack cocaine.
- States that the fair sentencing act of 2010 reduced the mandatory sentence of five years for possession of fifty grams to approximately 18:1.
- Explains that civil rights groups like the american civil liberties union, naacp, and the sentencing project fought against the implemented inequality that the crack cocaine sentencing brought.
- Analyzes hyser's "two steps forward, one step back: how federal courts took the fair" out.
- Explains that the national sheriff's association and the fraternal order of police opposed the fair sentencing act.
1397 wordsRead More - Causes Of Racial Disparity In Drug Discriminationanalytical essayRacial disparity in drug related convictions has been a wide spread problem in the United States since the War on Drugs in the early 1980s. It was prevalent before that time, but minorities became the target of drug related crimes in startling numbers at this time. There are several hypotheses for this alarming situation, but the bottom line remains that racism is the leading cause of racial disparity in drug related convictions. Minorities from inner cities, with low-incomes and socioeconomic statuses who get caught in a downward spiral, are the easiest targets for the government to point the finger at for drug problems in the United States. The statistics will show that while more White people use illicit drugs in the United States, more African Americans and other minorities will be convicted, and more harshly than their White counterparts, for the same crimes.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that racism is the leading cause of racial disparity in drug related convictions in the united states.
- Analyzes the findings of the national institute on drug abuse report. african american teenagers have a lower rate of drug use than whites, but they suffer from more drug-related health problems than any other ethnic group.
- Opines that the disparity in drug related conviction statistics makes one question the fairness of the convictions in our country.
- Analyzes how new laws created in the 1980s to combat the war on drugs were initiated to diminish suppliers and transporters of drugs by putting them in jail under harsh sentencing guidelines.
- Analyzes that while more whites use illicit drugs, more people of minorities, specifically african americans, are targeted for possession and sale of crack cocaine.
- Analyzes how the journal touched on the long-term effects this situation had on women charged with drug related crimes and on their children who became wards of the state while their mother's carried out long prison sentences.
- Opines that it disgusts them that african american women became collateral damage for the problems that the united states government was suffering in their own fiscal disaster.
- Argues that minorities are less likely to seek help for substance abuse programs than whites due to the history of clinical trials in the past.
- Agrees with s' hypothesis that given the history of forced sterilization of native americans in the late twentieth century and the tuskegee syphilis experiment of african american men, it is completely understandable that the faith in treatment centers would be tarnished for these minority groups.
- Analyzes how nyc has made an effort to improve the quality of life for residents by aggressively enforcing laws on crimes that occur in public and specifically targeting minorities in possession of marijuana.
- Agrees with s' hypothesis that race/ethnicity could not be fully explained by controlling for an offender’s prior record, age, or gender.
1239 wordsRead More - Essay On Community Drug Policyopinion essayThe community within which I live is extremely affected by the drug policy of United States, specifically the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. The people in my community are facing a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five to ten years without parole for the possession of five grams of crack cocaine while people who are sentenced for five hundred grams of powder cocaine. Later the one-hundred to one disparity was reduced to eighteen to one by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. The act reduced the amount of crack cocaine possessed from five grams to one ounce (28 grams). These two acts are said to be forms of institutionalized racism because African Americans, especially males, face higher arrest and incarceration rates for the possession of drugs than Caucasian males. The reason that African Americans face a higher arrest rate is because of law enforcement primarily focusing on low-income, impoverished, urban areas where many African Americans live and where crack cocaine thrives. According to research, African Americans composed of more than eighty percent of the population that are imprisoned under the federal crack cocaine laws. The impact of these federal policies
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the anti-drug abuse act of 1986 and the fair sentencing act of 2010 have left the african american community destitute.
- Opines that if they were a member of congress, they would not allow such policies to disenfranchise people of the african american community or any other minority group that are facing such issues.
- Proposes that the anti-drug abuse act and the fair sentencing act of 2010 be replaced with a law that provides equal sentences for the possession of both drugs.
413 wordsRead More