Michelle Alexander The New Jim Crow Analysis

The politics of responsibility hold each person responsible for his or her actions and choices; and therefore they have to accept the results of their actions. It means that people have duties and responsibilities towards themselves and others, and that they have to make the right choices and do the right actions in order to have a better life. However, Michelle Alexander disagrees with this strategy in her critique “The New Jim Crow,” arguing that the strategy of responsibility would fail to address the issue of mass incarceration. She argues that the politics of responsibility is insufficient because it cannot just blame people on their own actions and choices without considering their circumstances and the society they are living in, which could sometimes force them to behave in a certain way. She insists that

The strategy of respectability expects people to act and behave in a certain way. It expects people to be perfect and only do good actions which would not happen, because they are still humans and humans are not perfect. According to king, the goal “is to attack the evil in systems, not to attack persons” (Fasching); therefore he would support Alexander’s argument as this strategy blames the people instead of considering their circumstances and examining the factors that led them to be in this situation. The politics of respectability is meant to be a liberation strategy that would free those in jail who are mostly black and Hispanic men, and offer them a better future. However, in reality it is a policy that limits them through offering good behavior as the only option available, which could mean that they have to be like the white middle class and confirm to their values, ideas, and appearance in order to be considered good and have a better life (Alexander, p. 216-217). Therefore King would disagree with this policy, arguing that