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Criminal Justice System In Matthew Desmond's Evicted

692 Words3 Pages

The United States has more people in prison than any other country in the world and incarcerates people at a higher rate than ever before, yet the crime rate is not higher in the US than in other countries. The criminal justice system in the United States has a long history of disproportionately targeting minority individuals. It is important to understand that this system isn’t just broken and in need of repair but was designed by individuals in power to suppress and maintain dominance over minorities. The effects of this design can be observed through both empirical and anecdotal evidence, especially in Milwaukee, which is said to be one of the most segregated cities in the United States. Many of the characters in Matthew Desmond’s book Evicted, are either victims of this design or have observed it in action in their own …show more content…

While the novel focuses on the struggle of inner city inhabitants to afford their basic necessities, namely housing, the impact the criminal justice system plays in this struggle must also be examined to understand more completely the depth of their strife. By creating a criminal justice system that disproportionately targets people of color by way of mass incarceration, a cycle of poverty in communities of color is enforced. Because being incarcerated makes gaining employment and being an effective member of society significantly more challenging, it becomes exceedingly difficult for people to escape the cycle of poverty. While the effects of the criminal justice system are not solely responsible for the inescapable nature of poverty, it surely plays an important role. Furthermore, by targeting minority communities, an increase distrust between law enforcement and these communities is fostered and community members look elsewhere for

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Annotated Bibliography Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness / Michelle Alexander ; [with a New Foreword by Cornel West]. The New Press, 2012. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=2ec9cbe0-3ef5-3a44-8467-0f6b1bebfb80. This is a groundbreaking book by Michelle Alexander that explores the racial inequalities within the American criminal justice system.

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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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As we can see, African Americans have endured racial inequality, physical abuse, stripped of their legal rights, and are still at educational, economic, and social disadvantages in society. Despite slavery, and the racial segregation (Jim Crow), African American men are more likely to be in prison than any other race in America. “The growth of the American penal system since the mid-1970s has been concentrated from among African Americans and the poor. During the period of the prison boom, African Americans were about six to seven times more likely than whites to be incarcerated” (3). Unfortunately, race and social class play a significant role in African Americans for imprisonment.

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