This book and Paul Butler's Chokehold go had in hand, and I would recommend them both highly.
[28], John Pfaff, in his book Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform, criticizes Alexander's assertion that the Drug War is responsible for mass incarceration. 150 years after the Civil War, the median wealth of a black family is a small fraction of the median wealth of a white family. Washington D. C. was embroiled in the Iran-Contra Affair. According to the author, what has been altered since the collapse of Jim Crow is not so much the basic structure of US society, as the language used to justify its affairs. She does a particularly skilful job of anticipating arguments against her thesis, responding to each one with careful and persuasive analysis. Schuessler notes that the book has galvanized both black and white readers, some of whom view the work as giving voice to deep feelings that the criminal justice system is stacked against blacks, while others might question its portrayal of anti-crime policies as primarily motivated by racial animus. Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, "Drug Policy as Race Policy: Best Seller Galvanizes the Debate", "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness", "Racial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow", "Why you can't blame mass incarceration on the war on drugs", "Drug offenders in American prisons: The critical distinction between stock and flow", "The Crack Attack: America's Latest Drug Scare, 19861992", NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work Nonfiction, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_New_Jim_Crow&oldid=1096618450, History of racial segregation in the United States, Criminal justice reform in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2018, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from October 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Winner, NAACP Image Awards (Outstanding Non-fiction, 2011), Winner of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Prevention for a Safer Society (PASS) Award, Winner of the Constitution Project's 2010 Constitutional Commentary Award, 2010 IPPY Award: Silver Medal in Current Events II (Social Issues/Public Affairs/Ecological/Humanitarian) category, Winner of the 2010 Association of Humanist Sociology Book Award, This page was last edited on 5 July 2022, at 16:41. 5 stars for in depth, persuasive and eye opening analysis of complex and important issues. Bradley. The history of slavery and of Jim Crow is a stain that marks the entire sweep of US history and that stain is red, because it is in blood. When that comes to living in ghettoised areas, with no jobs, inadequate schooling, bad housing and no foreseeable way out, turning to a life of crime may look like an easy and understandable option.
//
She has done this perfectly and thus I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a hard time convincing others that the current state of Blackamerica is not due to a mortal/cultural flaw, but instead stems from a perfect storm of institutional control that perhaps was initially well-intended, but at present insist upon maintaining a status quo that has decimated the African-American community, 5 stars for in depth, persuasive and eye opening analysis of complex and important issues.
"[23] The scope of Alexander's definition of "incarceration" includes people who have been arrested (but not tried), people on parole and people who have been released but labelled as "criminals". Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow. Official websites use .gov It is not novelty that makes this book so profound, but the authority upon which the argument is made: simple statistics and inarguable facts.
Schuessler also notes that Alexander's book goes further, by asserting that the increase in incarceration was a deliberate effort to roll back civil rights gains, rather than a true response to increased rates of violent crime. But what if it isn't th. Alexander's definition is intentionally much broader than the subset of individuals currently in physical detention. You need to read this. She argues that mass imprisonment of the poor and minorities has exposed the racial and class bias by American politicians and Black leaders, respectively. I mostly want to mind my own business. Okay, if I'm completely honest, although I've long considered the justice system in America to have grave institutional racism, I've probably always looked at this the wrong way around. 94 Terrace, Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, inequitable distribution of wealth in the United States, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Summary - eNotes.com", "Combating Discrimination Against the Formerly Incarcerated in the Labor Market". To see what your friends thought of this book. [12] While studies show that quantitatively Americans of different races consume illegal drugs at similar rates,[13][verification needed] in some states black men have been sent to prison on drug charges at rates twenty to fifty times those of white men. Indifference is sufficient to support the system. I cant recall anything about the paper, either, though I can still see the This Is Your Brain On Drugs commercial that was rolled out in 1987 by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It is not case-sensitive.
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People choose to commit crimes, and that's why they are locked up or locked out, we are told. [CDATA[ It is a powerful read, well worth the time and emotional energy. . If you arent familiar with how America has expressed its racism institutionally since the demise of slavery and the repeal of the overtly racist Jim Crowe laws, you might want to read this book. Please make a tax-deductible donation today! the murder rate among blacks was 20 times higher than among whites. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. [15][16], Alexander maintains that this undercaste is hidden from view, invisible within a maze of rationalizations, with mass incarceration its most serious manifestation. [11] Alexander claims that the US is unparalleled in the world in focusing enforcement of federal drug laws on racial and ethnic minorities. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The author spells out in plain language how our laws and our courts have followed a racist agenda designed to rid our streets of young black men and other so called undesirables. Darryl Pinckney, writing in the New York Review of Books, called the book one that would "touch the public and educate social commentators, policymakers, and politicians about a glaring wrong that we have been living with that we also somehow don't know how to face [Alexander] is not the first to offer this bitter analysis, but NJC is striking in the intelligence of her ideas, her powers of summary, and the force of her writing". One can mandate changes, change the laws, make more and more things people say and do illegal, but..it doesn't change the way they think, change their long held beliefs, inborn prejudices and biases.
She writes that a human tragedy is unfolding, and The New Jim Crow is intended to stimulate a much-needed national discussion "about the role of the criminal justice system in creating and perpetuating racial hierarchy in the United States".[22]. In fact, if the worst thing you have ever done is speed ten miles over the speed limit on the freeway, you have put yourself and others at more risk of harm than someone smoking marijuana in the privacy of his or her living room. [8][9], Alexander argues that the War on Drugs has a devastating impact on inner city African American communities, on a scale entirely out of proportion to the actual dimensions of criminal activity taking place within these communities. How can you make money, yet stay out of trouble, when government agencies seem to be trying their hardest to make things difficult. All people make mistakes.
This book argues that the U.S. criminal justice system is being used as a contemporary system of racial control even as it adheres to the principle of colorblindness. It's a well-organized, thoughtful, accessible read - neither too light or too cluttered with footnotes.
This books is deeply thought-provoking, filled with statistics, historical facts, analyses and, significantly, advice on how to move towards creating a more equitable and just society for all. Yet there are people in the United States serving life sentences for first-time drug offenses, something virtually unheard of anywhere else in the world., The nature of the criminal justice system has changed. [1], Though the conventional point of view holds that systemic racial discrimination mostly ended with the civil rights movement reforms of the 1960s, Alexander posits that the U.S. criminal justice system uses the War on Drugs as a primary tool for enforcing traditional, as well as new modes of discrimination and oppression. Alexander does a fine job of truth-telling, pointing a finger where it rightly should be pointed: at all of us, liberal and conservative, white and black., Invaluable .
This book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, argues that the U.S. criminal justice system is being used as a contemporary system of racial control even as it adheres to the principle of colorblindness. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a, "Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave.
To approach these matters as anything but would be to fortify this new racial caste. But herein lies the trap. There are no problems harder to solve then sociological ones. She do. Okay, if I'm completely honest, although I've long considered the justice system in America to have grave institutional racism, I've probably always looked at this the wrong way around. . Staff Picks: Goodreads Employees Top Reads of 2021. Refresh and try again.
Michelle Alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar.
Du Bois. [3], This ultimately leads Alexander to argue that mass incarceration is "a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow".
My guess is: for the same reason white people don't stop using/selling drugs.
I'm not a political type of guy. January 5th 2010 It is because of this that Alexander argues for issues with mass incarceration to be addressed as issues of racial justice and civil rights. She expects similar reluctance and disbelief on the part of many of her readers.
Included in The Zora Cannon, a list of the 100 greatest books written by African American women published by Zora, a Medium publication. Thus, Alexander aims to mobilize the civil rights community to move the incarceration issue to the forefront of its agenda and to provide factual information, data, arguments and a point of reference for those interested in pursuing the issue. When combined with the fact that whites are more likely to commit drug crimes than people of color, the issue becomes clear for Alexander: "the primary targets of [the penal system's] control can be defined largely by race". Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexanders unforgettable argument that we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it. As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.. According to her, mass incarceration is "the most damaging manifestation of the backlash against the Civil Rights Movement", and those who feel that the election of Barack Obama represents the ultimate "triumph over race", and that race no longer matters, are dangerously misguided. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been involved in legal action, and grassroots campaigns have been organized, however Alexander feels that generally there is a lack of appreciation of the enormity of the crisis.
I grew up in Chicago so I am well aware of how race can divide a city. Being black in America = having less opportunities and resources. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. I've never picketed or protested or sat in.
4.5 stars - This was such a great read for so many reasons on its face, this is an excellently argued work of historical non-fiction. I was a college freshman, required to write a paper about fads vs. trends.
I don't even know where to start. Crimes for which others are not charged. In the very beginning, Mrs. Alexander states for whom this book was written: people who have a hard time convincing friends, neighbors and others that there is something oddly familiar with the current order.
[24], Jennifer Schuessler, writing in the New York Times, notes that Alexander presents voluminous evidence in the form of both statistics and legal cases to argue that the tough-on-crime policies begun under the Nixon administration and amplified under Reagan's war on drugs have devastated black America, where nearly one-third of black men are likely to spend time in prison during their lifetimes, and where many of these men will be second-class citizens afterwards. have the largest prison population in the world (p. 126).
There are no problems harder to solve then sociological ones. Alexander points out that a large percentage of African Americans are hindered by the discriminatory practices of an ostensibly colorblind criminal justice system, which end up creating an undercaste where upward mobility is severely constrained.
Stay connected! She notes that the basic structure of legalized discrimination in today's society hasn't changed but instead the language used to justify it has. Alexander states in the book: "I was careful to define "mass incarceration" to include those who were subject to state control outside of prison walls, as well as those who were locked in literal cages. Her broader goal is the revamping of the prevailing mentality regarding human rights, equality and equal opportunities in America, to prevent future cyclical recurrence of what she sees as "racial control under changing disguise".
js.src='https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; [34], c.^ Michelle Alexander suggested in a March 2012 New York Times article a possible strategy (she attributed the idea to Susan Burton) for coping with the unjust criminal justice system. With eloquence, passion, and careful research, Michelle Alexander shows how slavery in the United States has not disappeared - it has just changed shape, into the, It is Michelle Alexander's experience as a lawyer which makes this such a successful piece. [35], Nonfiction book about mass incarceration in the United States by Michelle Alexander, harvp error: no target: CITEREFAlexander2020 (, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker, Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, Skinner v. Railway Labor Executive Association, United States v. One Parcel of Real Estate Located at 9818 S.W.
All of us are sinners.
, During the past decade, no single book was more directly responsible for reshaping how the American public understands race and mass incarceration than Michelle Alexanders, If youre interested in learning more about the real lives caught up in our countrys justice system, I highly recommend, Alexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a much-needed conversation about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of our criminal-justice policies., Many critics have cast doubt on the proclamations of racisms erasure in the Obama era, but few have presented a case as powerful as Alexanders., [Written] with rare clarity, depth, and candor., Undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.. I've lived it, seen it, the good and the bad. An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. English 201. Supreme Court Judge Robert Jackson said in 1940: Federal Laws.
One can mandate changes, change the laws, make more and more things people say and do illegal, but..it doesn't change the way they think, change their long held beliefs, inborn prejudices and biases.
Now what do you do to keep a roof over your head? 1988. I dont pretend to have a terribly high opinion of the US. See all 13 questions about The New Jim Crow, Social Justice: Books on Racism, Sexism, and Class, Mario the lone bookwolf (is on a longer vacation). It will have you exclaiming aloud. by The New Press Inc. She argues that when people of color are disproportionately labeled as "criminals", this allows the unleashing of a whole range of legal discrimination measures in employment, housing, education, public benefits, voting rights, jury duty, and so on. Being black in America = having less opportunities and resources. Devastating.
This last resort strategy is controversial, as some would end up with extremely harsh sentences, but, it is argued, progress often cannot be made without sacrifice. . Alexander argues that the system reflects an underlying racial ideology and will not be significantly disturbed by half-measures such as laws mandating shorter prison sentences. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. (Black genocide)[citation needed], In 1998, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acknowledged that during the 1980s the Contra factioncovertly supported by the US in Nicaraguahad been involved in smuggling cocaine into the US and distributing it in US cities. js.id=id;
His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. Where to start with this?
Notes and index, Territories Financial Support Center (TFSC), Tribal Financial Management Center (TFMC). The question of guilt is decided without adjudicating the evidence-the fundamental process of determining the truth and assigning proportionate punishment does not take place. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. This book was published in 2010, but it seems particularly timely now. If it was hard enough before being labelled a criminal, think how hard it is after. [14] The proportion of African American men with some sort of criminal record approaches 80% in some major US cities, and they become marginalized, part of what Alexander calls "a growing and permanent undercaste". 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 content of this book is so disturbing that I had to take a break from reading it for a week or so. The author states that despite the election of Barack Obama, the United States has not ended the use of racial caste, instead it has merely redesigned it by targeting Black men through the War on Drugs and the decimation of communities of color.
Supreme Court Judge Robert Jackson said in 1940: Federal Laws are so voluminous and unfathomable that prosecutors can easily pick the man and find the crime rather than vice versa. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander argues that the war on drugs and its consequent incarceration of a disproportionate number of black American men amounts to a new form of racialized social control akin to the Jim Crow laws. Crimes for which others are not charged. Public interference by standing on a sidewalk. [1] ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The current rate of incarceration in the US is six to ten times greater than in other industrialized nations, and Alexander maintains that this disparity is not correlated to the fluctuation of crime rates, but can be traced mostly to the artificially invoked War on Drugs and its associated discriminatory policies.
. [31], a..mw-parser-output .citation{word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}^ The persistently lingering result of the lack of land reform, of the fact that the former slaves were not granted any of the property on which they had long labored (unlike many European serfs, emancipated and economically empowered to various degrees by that time,[32] their American counterparts ended up with nothing), is the present extremely inequitable distribution of wealth in the United States along racial lines. The New Jim Crow is essential reading for Americans who don't or haven't followed these issues closely over the last 30 years. The US incarceration rate is eight times that of Germany, a comparatively developed large democracy. Michelle Alexander is an associate professor of law at The Ohio State University, a civil rights advocate and a writer.
One of the most important books I have ever read. You probably wont, but you should. LockA locked padlock The 10th Anniversary Edition (2020) was discussed with Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen Show on network TV, and reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review section on January 19, 2020. She does an extraordinary job reviewing history, the different branches of the legal system, and the economic, social and political circumstances of black Americans today. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States, but Alexander noted that the discrimination faced by African-American males is prevalent among other minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Driving while black is another. [5], Alexander explains that it took her years to become fully aware and convinced of the phenomena she describes, despite her professional civil rights background. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
Like Australia, it is a settler society that really needs to reconcile and make amends with its own past. Start by marking The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness as Want to Read: Error rating book. A must-read for anyone who is serious about understanding the current state of law, order and justice. [21], Alexander writes that Americans are ashamed of their racial history, and therefore avoid talking about race, or even class, so the terms used in her book may seem unfamiliar to many. Welcome back. And so they do until we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Where to start with this?
I've lived it, seen it, the good and the bad. Your gift will support The New Press in continuing to leverage books for social change. a timely and stunning guide to the labyrinth of propaganda, discrimination, and racist policies masquerading under other names that comprises what we call justice in America., Carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable., A call to action for everyone concerned with racial justice and an important tool for anyone concerned with understanding and dismantling this oppressive system. Justice won't take place, because "either the defendant is guilty, but gets off easy by copping a plea, or the defendant is innocent but pleads guilty to avoid the risk of greater punishment". [17], According to Alexander, crime and punishment are poorly correlated, and the present US criminal justice system has effectively become a system of social control unparalleled in any other Western democracy, with its targets largely defined by race. {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; During the mid-1980s, as the use of crack cocaine increased to epidemic levels in these neighborhoods, federal drug authorities publicized the problem, using scare tactics to generate support for their already-declared escalation. By mass incarceration she refers to the web of laws, rules, policies and customs that make up the criminal justice system and which serve as a gateway to permanent marginalization in the undercaste. [citation needed], Alexander believes that the existence of the New Jim Crow system is not disproved by the election of Barack Obama and other examples of exceptional achievement among African Americans, but on the contrary the New Jim Crow system depends on such exceptionalism. [2] These new modes of racism have led to not only the highest rate of incarceration in the world, but also a disproportionately large rate of imprisonment for African American men. {js=d.createElement(s);
One of the Most Important Books Published in the English Language So Far This Century. If you have followed the reasons for and impacts of the US approach to incarceration on the African-American community (and be honest with yourself on whether you've read a few WashingtonPost or Atlantic Magazine articles from time to time or really dug in over time on the data and history), there's little new here, but it's a good reminder and summary, anyway.
La nueva segregacin racial en Estados Unidos, The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms, What Has Changedand What Has Notwith Race in America, Race and the Demobilization of American Voters, The Education of an American Revolutionary. [18] The US embarked on an unprecedented expansion of its juvenile detention and prison systems. What kind of crimes falls under her umbrella of "new Jim Crow"? The rate of incarceration in the US has soared, while its crime rates have generally remained similar to those of other Western countries, where incarceration rates have remained stable. In the very beginning, Mrs. Alexander states for whom this book was written: people who have a hard time convincing friends, neighbors and others that there is something oddly familiar with the current order. The New Jim Crow was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the 11 best scholarly books of the 2010s, chosen by Stefan M. the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs ~W.E.B.
I am still trying to absorb and synthesize the information. So now you cannot get a job, home, or financial assistance, as you are no longer a worthwhile member of the community, deserving of help.
Were present trends to continue, Alexander writes, the United States would imprison one third of its African American population.
[26], The book received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, saying that Alexander "offers an acute analysis of the effect of mass incarceration upon former inmates" who will be legally discriminated against for the rest of their lives, and described the book as "carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable".
No, black people aren't the majority in our American prisons because they're more likely to commit crimes.
She acknowledges that she does not have a clear roadmap to address the new Jim Crow, but she offers some good starting points. if(!d.getElementById(id)) Like its predecessors, the new system of racial control has been largely immune from legal challenge.
Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Its emergence, she believes, is a direct response to the civil rights movement. Alexander has concluded that mass incarceration policies, which were swiftly developed and implemented, are a "comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow". If you have followed the reasons for and impacts of the US approach to incarceration on the African-American community (and be honest with yourself on whether you've read a few WashingtonPost or Atlantic Magazine articles from time to time or really dug in over time on.
[28], John Pfaff, in his book Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform, criticizes Alexander's assertion that the Drug War is responsible for mass incarceration. 150 years after the Civil War, the median wealth of a black family is a small fraction of the median wealth of a white family. Washington D. C. was embroiled in the Iran-Contra Affair. According to the author, what has been altered since the collapse of Jim Crow is not so much the basic structure of US society, as the language used to justify its affairs. She does a particularly skilful job of anticipating arguments against her thesis, responding to each one with careful and persuasive analysis. Schuessler notes that the book has galvanized both black and white readers, some of whom view the work as giving voice to deep feelings that the criminal justice system is stacked against blacks, while others might question its portrayal of anti-crime policies as primarily motivated by racial animus. Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, "Drug Policy as Race Policy: Best Seller Galvanizes the Debate", "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness", "Racial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow", "Why you can't blame mass incarceration on the war on drugs", "Drug offenders in American prisons: The critical distinction between stock and flow", "The Crack Attack: America's Latest Drug Scare, 19861992", NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work Nonfiction, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_New_Jim_Crow&oldid=1096618450, History of racial segregation in the United States, Criminal justice reform in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2018, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from October 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Winner, NAACP Image Awards (Outstanding Non-fiction, 2011), Winner of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Prevention for a Safer Society (PASS) Award, Winner of the Constitution Project's 2010 Constitutional Commentary Award, 2010 IPPY Award: Silver Medal in Current Events II (Social Issues/Public Affairs/Ecological/Humanitarian) category, Winner of the 2010 Association of Humanist Sociology Book Award, This page was last edited on 5 July 2022, at 16:41. 5 stars for in depth, persuasive and eye opening analysis of complex and important issues. Bradley. The history of slavery and of Jim Crow is a stain that marks the entire sweep of US history and that stain is red, because it is in blood. When that comes to living in ghettoised areas, with no jobs, inadequate schooling, bad housing and no foreseeable way out, turning to a life of crime may look like an easy and understandable option.
//
She has done this perfectly and thus I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a hard time convincing others that the current state of Blackamerica is not due to a mortal/cultural flaw, but instead stems from a perfect storm of institutional control that perhaps was initially well-intended, but at present insist upon maintaining a status quo that has decimated the African-American community, 5 stars for in depth, persuasive and eye opening analysis of complex and important issues.
"[23] The scope of Alexander's definition of "incarceration" includes people who have been arrested (but not tried), people on parole and people who have been released but labelled as "criminals". Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow. Official websites use .gov It is not novelty that makes this book so profound, but the authority upon which the argument is made: simple statistics and inarguable facts. Schuessler also notes that Alexander's book goes further, by asserting that the increase in incarceration was a deliberate effort to roll back civil rights gains, rather than a true response to increased rates of violent crime. But what if it isn't th. Alexander's definition is intentionally much broader than the subset of individuals currently in physical detention. You need to read this. She argues that mass imprisonment of the poor and minorities has exposed the racial and class bias by American politicians and Black leaders, respectively. I mostly want to mind my own business. Okay, if I'm completely honest, although I've long considered the justice system in America to have grave institutional racism, I've probably always looked at this the wrong way around. 94 Terrace, Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, inequitable distribution of wealth in the United States, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Summary - eNotes.com", "Combating Discrimination Against the Formerly Incarcerated in the Labor Market". To see what your friends thought of this book. [12] While studies show that quantitatively Americans of different races consume illegal drugs at similar rates,[13][verification needed] in some states black men have been sent to prison on drug charges at rates twenty to fifty times those of white men. Indifference is sufficient to support the system. I cant recall anything about the paper, either, though I can still see the This Is Your Brain On Drugs commercial that was rolled out in 1987 by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It is not case-sensitive.
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People choose to commit crimes, and that's why they are locked up or locked out, we are told. [CDATA[ It is a powerful read, well worth the time and emotional energy. . If you arent familiar with how America has expressed its racism institutionally since the demise of slavery and the repeal of the overtly racist Jim Crowe laws, you might want to read this book. Please make a tax-deductible donation today! the murder rate among blacks was 20 times higher than among whites. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. [15][16], Alexander maintains that this undercaste is hidden from view, invisible within a maze of rationalizations, with mass incarceration its most serious manifestation. [11] Alexander claims that the US is unparalleled in the world in focusing enforcement of federal drug laws on racial and ethnic minorities. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The author spells out in plain language how our laws and our courts have followed a racist agenda designed to rid our streets of young black men and other so called undesirables. Darryl Pinckney, writing in the New York Review of Books, called the book one that would "touch the public and educate social commentators, policymakers, and politicians about a glaring wrong that we have been living with that we also somehow don't know how to face [Alexander] is not the first to offer this bitter analysis, but NJC is striking in the intelligence of her ideas, her powers of summary, and the force of her writing". One can mandate changes, change the laws, make more and more things people say and do illegal, but..it doesn't change the way they think, change their long held beliefs, inborn prejudices and biases.
She writes that a human tragedy is unfolding, and The New Jim Crow is intended to stimulate a much-needed national discussion "about the role of the criminal justice system in creating and perpetuating racial hierarchy in the United States".[22]. In fact, if the worst thing you have ever done is speed ten miles over the speed limit on the freeway, you have put yourself and others at more risk of harm than someone smoking marijuana in the privacy of his or her living room. [8][9], Alexander argues that the War on Drugs has a devastating impact on inner city African American communities, on a scale entirely out of proportion to the actual dimensions of criminal activity taking place within these communities. How can you make money, yet stay out of trouble, when government agencies seem to be trying their hardest to make things difficult. All people make mistakes.
This book argues that the U.S. criminal justice system is being used as a contemporary system of racial control even as it adheres to the principle of colorblindness. It's a well-organized, thoughtful, accessible read - neither too light or too cluttered with footnotes.
This books is deeply thought-provoking, filled with statistics, historical facts, analyses and, significantly, advice on how to move towards creating a more equitable and just society for all. Yet there are people in the United States serving life sentences for first-time drug offenses, something virtually unheard of anywhere else in the world., The nature of the criminal justice system has changed. [1], Though the conventional point of view holds that systemic racial discrimination mostly ended with the civil rights movement reforms of the 1960s, Alexander posits that the U.S. criminal justice system uses the War on Drugs as a primary tool for enforcing traditional, as well as new modes of discrimination and oppression. Alexander does a fine job of truth-telling, pointing a finger where it rightly should be pointed: at all of us, liberal and conservative, white and black., Invaluable .
This book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, argues that the U.S. criminal justice system is being used as a contemporary system of racial control even as it adheres to the principle of colorblindness. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a, "Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave.
To approach these matters as anything but would be to fortify this new racial caste. But herein lies the trap. There are no problems harder to solve then sociological ones. She do. Okay, if I'm completely honest, although I've long considered the justice system in America to have grave institutional racism, I've probably always looked at this the wrong way around. . Staff Picks: Goodreads Employees Top Reads of 2021. Refresh and try again.
Michelle Alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar.
Du Bois. [3], This ultimately leads Alexander to argue that mass incarceration is "a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow".
My guess is: for the same reason white people don't stop using/selling drugs.
I'm not a political type of guy. January 5th 2010 It is because of this that Alexander argues for issues with mass incarceration to be addressed as issues of racial justice and civil rights. She expects similar reluctance and disbelief on the part of many of her readers.
Included in The Zora Cannon, a list of the 100 greatest books written by African American women published by Zora, a Medium publication. Thus, Alexander aims to mobilize the civil rights community to move the incarceration issue to the forefront of its agenda and to provide factual information, data, arguments and a point of reference for those interested in pursuing the issue. When combined with the fact that whites are more likely to commit drug crimes than people of color, the issue becomes clear for Alexander: "the primary targets of [the penal system's] control can be defined largely by race". Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexanders unforgettable argument that we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it. As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.. According to her, mass incarceration is "the most damaging manifestation of the backlash against the Civil Rights Movement", and those who feel that the election of Barack Obama represents the ultimate "triumph over race", and that race no longer matters, are dangerously misguided. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been involved in legal action, and grassroots campaigns have been organized, however Alexander feels that generally there is a lack of appreciation of the enormity of the crisis.
I grew up in Chicago so I am well aware of how race can divide a city. Being black in America = having less opportunities and resources. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. I've never picketed or protested or sat in.
4.5 stars - This was such a great read for so many reasons on its face, this is an excellently argued work of historical non-fiction. I was a college freshman, required to write a paper about fads vs. trends.
I don't even know where to start. Crimes for which others are not charged. In the very beginning, Mrs. Alexander states for whom this book was written: people who have a hard time convincing friends, neighbors and others that there is something oddly familiar with the current order.
[24], Jennifer Schuessler, writing in the New York Times, notes that Alexander presents voluminous evidence in the form of both statistics and legal cases to argue that the tough-on-crime policies begun under the Nixon administration and amplified under Reagan's war on drugs have devastated black America, where nearly one-third of black men are likely to spend time in prison during their lifetimes, and where many of these men will be second-class citizens afterwards. have the largest prison population in the world (p. 126).
There are no problems harder to solve then sociological ones. Alexander points out that a large percentage of African Americans are hindered by the discriminatory practices of an ostensibly colorblind criminal justice system, which end up creating an undercaste where upward mobility is severely constrained.
Stay connected! She notes that the basic structure of legalized discrimination in today's society hasn't changed but instead the language used to justify it has. Alexander states in the book: "I was careful to define "mass incarceration" to include those who were subject to state control outside of prison walls, as well as those who were locked in literal cages. Her broader goal is the revamping of the prevailing mentality regarding human rights, equality and equal opportunities in America, to prevent future cyclical recurrence of what she sees as "racial control under changing disguise".
js.src='https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; [34], c.^ Michelle Alexander suggested in a March 2012 New York Times article a possible strategy (she attributed the idea to Susan Burton) for coping with the unjust criminal justice system. With eloquence, passion, and careful research, Michelle Alexander shows how slavery in the United States has not disappeared - it has just changed shape, into the, It is Michelle Alexander's experience as a lawyer which makes this such a successful piece. [35], Nonfiction book about mass incarceration in the United States by Michelle Alexander, harvp error: no target: CITEREFAlexander2020 (, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker, Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, Skinner v. Railway Labor Executive Association, United States v. One Parcel of Real Estate Located at 9818 S.W.
All of us are sinners.
, During the past decade, no single book was more directly responsible for reshaping how the American public understands race and mass incarceration than Michelle Alexanders, If youre interested in learning more about the real lives caught up in our countrys justice system, I highly recommend, Alexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a much-needed conversation about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of our criminal-justice policies., Many critics have cast doubt on the proclamations of racisms erasure in the Obama era, but few have presented a case as powerful as Alexanders., [Written] with rare clarity, depth, and candor., Undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.. I've lived it, seen it, the good and the bad. An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. English 201. Supreme Court Judge Robert Jackson said in 1940: Federal Laws.
One can mandate changes, change the laws, make more and more things people say and do illegal, but..it doesn't change the way they think, change their long held beliefs, inborn prejudices and biases.
Now what do you do to keep a roof over your head? 1988. I dont pretend to have a terribly high opinion of the US. See all 13 questions about The New Jim Crow, Social Justice: Books on Racism, Sexism, and Class, Mario the lone bookwolf (is on a longer vacation). It will have you exclaiming aloud. by The New Press Inc. She argues that when people of color are disproportionately labeled as "criminals", this allows the unleashing of a whole range of legal discrimination measures in employment, housing, education, public benefits, voting rights, jury duty, and so on. Being black in America = having less opportunities and resources. Devastating.
This last resort strategy is controversial, as some would end up with extremely harsh sentences, but, it is argued, progress often cannot be made without sacrifice. . Alexander argues that the system reflects an underlying racial ideology and will not be significantly disturbed by half-measures such as laws mandating shorter prison sentences. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. (Black genocide)[citation needed], In 1998, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acknowledged that during the 1980s the Contra factioncovertly supported by the US in Nicaraguahad been involved in smuggling cocaine into the US and distributing it in US cities. js.id=id;
His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. Where to start with this?
Notes and index, Territories Financial Support Center (TFSC), Tribal Financial Management Center (TFMC). The question of guilt is decided without adjudicating the evidence-the fundamental process of determining the truth and assigning proportionate punishment does not take place. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. This book was published in 2010, but it seems particularly timely now. If it was hard enough before being labelled a criminal, think how hard it is after. [14] The proportion of African American men with some sort of criminal record approaches 80% in some major US cities, and they become marginalized, part of what Alexander calls "a growing and permanent undercaste". 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 content of this book is so disturbing that I had to take a break from reading it for a week or so. The author states that despite the election of Barack Obama, the United States has not ended the use of racial caste, instead it has merely redesigned it by targeting Black men through the War on Drugs and the decimation of communities of color.
Supreme Court Judge Robert Jackson said in 1940: Federal Laws are so voluminous and unfathomable that prosecutors can easily pick the man and find the crime rather than vice versa. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander argues that the war on drugs and its consequent incarceration of a disproportionate number of black American men amounts to a new form of racialized social control akin to the Jim Crow laws. Crimes for which others are not charged. Public interference by standing on a sidewalk. [1] ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The current rate of incarceration in the US is six to ten times greater than in other industrialized nations, and Alexander maintains that this disparity is not correlated to the fluctuation of crime rates, but can be traced mostly to the artificially invoked War on Drugs and its associated discriminatory policies.
. [31], a..mw-parser-output .citation{word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}^ The persistently lingering result of the lack of land reform, of the fact that the former slaves were not granted any of the property on which they had long labored (unlike many European serfs, emancipated and economically empowered to various degrees by that time,[32] their American counterparts ended up with nothing), is the present extremely inequitable distribution of wealth in the United States along racial lines. The New Jim Crow is essential reading for Americans who don't or haven't followed these issues closely over the last 30 years. The US incarceration rate is eight times that of Germany, a comparatively developed large democracy. Michelle Alexander is an associate professor of law at The Ohio State University, a civil rights advocate and a writer.
One of the most important books I have ever read. You probably wont, but you should. LockA locked padlock The 10th Anniversary Edition (2020) was discussed with Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen Show on network TV, and reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review section on January 19, 2020. She does an extraordinary job reviewing history, the different branches of the legal system, and the economic, social and political circumstances of black Americans today. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States, but Alexander noted that the discrimination faced by African-American males is prevalent among other minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Driving while black is another. [5], Alexander explains that it took her years to become fully aware and convinced of the phenomena she describes, despite her professional civil rights background. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
Like Australia, it is a settler society that really needs to reconcile and make amends with its own past. Start by marking The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness as Want to Read: Error rating book. A must-read for anyone who is serious about understanding the current state of law, order and justice. [21], Alexander writes that Americans are ashamed of their racial history, and therefore avoid talking about race, or even class, so the terms used in her book may seem unfamiliar to many. Welcome back. And so they do until we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Where to start with this?
I've lived it, seen it, the good and the bad. Your gift will support The New Press in continuing to leverage books for social change. a timely and stunning guide to the labyrinth of propaganda, discrimination, and racist policies masquerading under other names that comprises what we call justice in America., Carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable., A call to action for everyone concerned with racial justice and an important tool for anyone concerned with understanding and dismantling this oppressive system. Justice won't take place, because "either the defendant is guilty, but gets off easy by copping a plea, or the defendant is innocent but pleads guilty to avoid the risk of greater punishment". [17], According to Alexander, crime and punishment are poorly correlated, and the present US criminal justice system has effectively become a system of social control unparalleled in any other Western democracy, with its targets largely defined by race. {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; During the mid-1980s, as the use of crack cocaine increased to epidemic levels in these neighborhoods, federal drug authorities publicized the problem, using scare tactics to generate support for their already-declared escalation. By mass incarceration she refers to the web of laws, rules, policies and customs that make up the criminal justice system and which serve as a gateway to permanent marginalization in the undercaste. [citation needed], Alexander believes that the existence of the New Jim Crow system is not disproved by the election of Barack Obama and other examples of exceptional achievement among African Americans, but on the contrary the New Jim Crow system depends on such exceptionalism. [2] These new modes of racism have led to not only the highest rate of incarceration in the world, but also a disproportionately large rate of imprisonment for African American men. {js=d.createElement(s);
One of the Most Important Books Published in the English Language So Far This Century. If you have followed the reasons for and impacts of the US approach to incarceration on the African-American community (and be honest with yourself on whether you've read a few WashingtonPost or Atlantic Magazine articles from time to time or really dug in over time on the data and history), there's little new here, but it's a good reminder and summary, anyway.
La nueva segregacin racial en Estados Unidos, The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms, What Has Changedand What Has Notwith Race in America, Race and the Demobilization of American Voters, The Education of an American Revolutionary. [18] The US embarked on an unprecedented expansion of its juvenile detention and prison systems. What kind of crimes falls under her umbrella of "new Jim Crow"? The rate of incarceration in the US has soared, while its crime rates have generally remained similar to those of other Western countries, where incarceration rates have remained stable. In the very beginning, Mrs. Alexander states for whom this book was written: people who have a hard time convincing friends, neighbors and others that there is something oddly familiar with the current order. The New Jim Crow was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the 11 best scholarly books of the 2010s, chosen by Stefan M. the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs ~W.E.B.
I am still trying to absorb and synthesize the information. So now you cannot get a job, home, or financial assistance, as you are no longer a worthwhile member of the community, deserving of help.
Were present trends to continue, Alexander writes, the United States would imprison one third of its African American population.
[26], The book received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, saying that Alexander "offers an acute analysis of the effect of mass incarceration upon former inmates" who will be legally discriminated against for the rest of their lives, and described the book as "carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable".
No, black people aren't the majority in our American prisons because they're more likely to commit crimes.
She acknowledges that she does not have a clear roadmap to address the new Jim Crow, but she offers some good starting points. if(!d.getElementById(id)) Like its predecessors, the new system of racial control has been largely immune from legal challenge.
Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Its emergence, she believes, is a direct response to the civil rights movement. Alexander has concluded that mass incarceration policies, which were swiftly developed and implemented, are a "comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow". If you have followed the reasons for and impacts of the US approach to incarceration on the African-American community (and be honest with yourself on whether you've read a few WashingtonPost or Atlantic Magazine articles from time to time or really dug in over time on.