Mass Incarceration In The New Jim Crow

Slavery, Jim Crow, and the New Jim Crow all share the same idea, white supremacy. Slavery held control over blacks through physical ownership, as well as economic exploitation. Similarly, Jim Crow ensured that there was legal separation and disenfranchisement between blacks and whites. The New Jim Crow follows in the footsteps of the other two, disproportionally targeting blacks as “criminals” and incarcerating them. The act of incarceration impacts blacks, providing them with a criminal record, making it difficult for them to grow economically and socially, thus leaving them at a disadvantage. All three events were meant to segregate and oppress blacks, viewing them as inferior to whites. Slavery and the Jim Crows denied black individuals equal rights while simultaneously

Although slavery has been abolished and the civil rights movement has made some progress, a racial caste system remains. This caste system is perpetuated through mass incarceration, which disproportionately targets blacks, portraying them as nothing more than “criminals” and relegating them to a permanent underclass, even after they have served their sentences. Week 7 pp. day 2 slide 11. During slavery, blacks were not seen as equal to whites, but instead were at the bottom of the caste system, viewed as a labor source. Jim Crow ensured that once again, although they were now “free,” that blacks had limited mobility in America. It became a challenge for males to find fair paying jobs, receive an education, and so on. Although slavery had been abolished, their way of living had not changed much; they were still viewed as less than. Onto the present day, the new Jim Crow targets blacks as criminals and places a label on them. Once they have been released from the system, they face the same challenges their ancestors once dealt