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Colorblind In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander

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In todays’ society does race matter? Who in society thinks that race matters and who thinks it no longer matters? In our daily living we experience different types of racism. Some of us experience racism because of the color of our skin, the country we migrated from or just because we speak a different language. Additionally, people can be judged by the way they dress, or the food they eat. People witness many types of discrimination and injustice; however, sometimes they choose not to get involved. Michelle Alexander addresses this issue in her book the New Jim Crow, where she claims that almost everyone has forgotten what justice is. Further proof of Alexander’s argument is provided in Julia Craven’s article, “More Than 250 Black People Were …show more content…

If society can’t change these discriminatory laws and make it equal for all races then society is colorblind. People should be judged by the crimes they commit and not by the color of their skin. In todays’ society blacks are being classed as a new kind of slave as stated in the New Jim Crow. Alexander mostly talks about the birth of Jim Crow and War on Drugs. The birth of Jim Crow is to prevent African Americans from obtaining political power, greater social and economic equality (Alexander 30). The Jim Crow Law which started in the 1900s affected innocent black people just as it is affecting those in society today. In the 1900s blacks were being treated unfairly and unjustly without any civil rights, although we have the Declaration of Independence that states all “Men are Equal” it is not so for today’s black …show more content…

Ta-Nehishi Coates argues that people in today’s society should take a stand for equal justice for all. Additionally, his viewpoint corresponds with Alexander and Craven because the authors present facts that show that justice is not equal for everyone. It can be argued that mass incarceration is related to slavery because blacks are still being treated unfairly and without equal justice. Slavery is related to mass incarceration today because the majority of African Americans are unable to obtain political power, and social and economic equality (Alexander 30). Innocent blacks are still being denied their rights to fair and just treatment in the criminal justice system. African Americans are human just as everyone else in today’s society and they should be treated with equally and without discrimination in the criminal justice

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It is an existing theory that our society is constructed via racial dimensions, and that racial equality is a figment of the imagination. This very principle is highlighted in Michelle Alexander’s novel, “The New Jim Crow.” The specific dimensions covered within the text include the unjust aspects of the federal drug policy, and by connection that of mass incarceration as well. Alexander claims that racism is still very prominent in present day society and is direct and frank about the heavy influence of white supremacy. One of the main arguments pushed by Alexander in this book is that mass incarceration is “ a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar

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Michelle Alexander explains how our society uses Mass Incarceration to control those in the African American community starting with the War on Drugs. She discusses how slavery and Jim crow were used to control the African American community, and when those ideas became stale government officials were searching for a new way to control the community. Thus, Mass Incarceration became the new caste system. This book has opened my eyes in various aspects. I have a better understand of the justice system after reading this book that I have had from watching the news and other media outlets.

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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: The New Press. Michelle Alexander in her book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" argues that law enforcement officials routinely racially profile minorities to deny them socially, politically, and economically as was accustomed in the Jim Crow era.

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Chapter 2 She wrote “uncultivated barbarian from Africa” could be civilized, that enslaved Africans “may be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (Wheatley, 1773). The timeline ends in the 2010’s with “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander. The author wrote” Two years after Obama’s election, Alexander put the entire criminal justice system on trial, exposing racial discrimination from lawmaking to policing to the denial of voting rights to ex-prisoners. This best seller struck the spark that would eventually light the fire of Black Lives Matter(KENDI,2017).” Ibram X Kendi also wrote a booked called “Stamped from the Beginning” which David Olusogo wrote about in his article posted on the Guardian

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Michelle Alexander, similarly, points out the same truth that African American men are targeted substantially by the criminal justice system due to the long history leading to racial bias and mass incarceration within her text “The New Jim Crow”. Both Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Michelle Alexander’s text exhibit the brutality and social injustice that the African American community experiences, which ultimately expedites the mass incarceration of African American men, reflecting the current flawed prison system in the U.S. The American prison system is flawed in numerous ways as both King and Alexander points out. A significant flaw that was identified is the injustice of specifically targeting African American men for crimes due to the racial stereotypes formed as a result of racial formation. Racial formation is the accumulation of racial identities and categories that are formed, reconstructed, and abrogated throughout history.

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