In her book “The New Jim Crow” (2010), Michelle Alexander, a civil rights lawyer and an activist in the civil rights movements, that many people think has long been concluded, argues that the results of prison go well beyond the walls of the facility and can even have a perpetual effect on a person's life. Alexanders exact words on page 142 are “ Once labeled a felon, the badge of inferiority remains with you for the rest of your life, relegating you to a permanent second-class status.” Alexander supports her claim by interviewing people and describing their experiences in prison and their life after prison. She also informs the reader of laws that make it harder for felons to not only get jobs, but also limits their access to housing, and
In her book, The New Jim Crow, Alexander argues the discrimination of jury selections which is an unfair of treatment for people of color under the law (The Fourth Amendment). Moreover, she provides more information about the juries and juror race-based selection in the justice system. The statistical shows that there is approximately 30 percent of black man are automatically banned or rejected from the jury service and many cases all black jurors are eliminated with the irrational explanations, such as the physical appearance, clothing style, and even marital status (Alexander, 2012). She also reports the interesting case of the two black men who was convicted of second degree robbery in a Missouri court. In addition, she emphasizes that during
Recently, I read an article that discussed a New Jim Crow that has already begun to develop. After reading the article, I noticed that there were theories and concepts that could be drawn out from the reading. Using the system theory, it helps to describe how organisms exist in a particular order in the world. How the theory function is through systems and how the structure of these systems relies on the relationship between the parts. When it comes to the injustices towards African Americans, every system of control has been a cyclical process where those who reside on the top of the racial hierarchy, find new ways to maintain their status when a new form of racial control begins.
After reading the article “Jim Crow Policing” by Bob Herbert, I agree with the author that the New York police should stop harass the Black and the Hispanic for no reason. In the article, the author gives the data of the percent of stops that yielded the weapon. The percent of Black and Hispanics have weapon is less than that of the white. It shows that the Black and Hispanics have different color does not mean they are more likely to commit a crime. The police in New York have a degrading way that affect the Black and Hispanics because it seems they only base on their skin color and race to treat the people.
At the end of March, Annie Valk and Leslie Brown presented a lecture about their book, Living with Jim Crow: African American Women and Memories of the Segregated South at Craven Community College. Before the lecture ended, they provided an opportunity to attendees to ask questions or give comments about the material covered. Many attendees described their experiences and their ancestors’ with segregation. They had very strong feelings about the events that occurred, and members of the chapter wondered if it was possible to bring closure to what was discussed. The chapter voted to focus on the Great Fire of New Bern in 1922.
The New Jim Crow was a thought provoking documentary detailing the mass incarceration of black men in America. The author tells how these men, as prisoners, are treated of quasi-slaves. In fact, the prison system is now the new plantation system of slavery in America today. It was more shocking for to learn what type of low wages the prisoners earn; and how refusal to work could be grounds for disciplinary action such as isolation cells or extended time added to original sentence time.
Throughout the history of America, the African American community as a whole has been looked down upon and their rights have been minimized by groups of white supremacists. Indeed, slavery has been abolished and we are living in a world where minorities are “accepted”. However, there is still a lingering sense of hatred and entitlement from whites towards African Americans and other minorities in our country. These groups of white supremacists make sure that the African American community suffers. They employ strict laws that specifically target certain communities.
PBS was the main website to talk about the article The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. In the article there were 3 topics discussed that helped illustrate what the Jim Crow laws were and did. The author of these articles is Tsahai Tafari. The Jim Crow laws were a popular ideal in the 1820’s. Its a “namesake of an American system of discrimination and segregation.”
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.
With prisoners released from this power structure there is this struggle to reconnect with society after being denied basic rights and privacy while in this facility. Alexander expresses how former inmates "never truly reenter the society they inhabited prior to their conviction" (Alexander 261). With this confession this allows for one to understand that former convicts do struggle to reincorporate themselves into society because they are no longer seen as trustworthy and honest people, but rather someone that has been locked in a cage as a consequence for their actions. This just truly illustrates how the prison industrial complex affects whether society is willing to accept convicts back into white society. Knowing this as a consequence of the prison industrial complex demonstrates injustice because of how prison affects the lives of
After leaving prison, a felon is already viewed as not as important as a citizen who has never committed a crime. It can be very difficult to participate and take part in community activities such as getting a job. Felons feel unimportant and unwanted. It is unjust for felons to be treated this way. Several people who have been incarcerated have been interviewed on this topic.
Lastly, violence against black people was very prominent during the Jim Crow era. The statistics for the amounts of black deaths from violence is outrageous. Fremon wrote, “In 1890 until 1917, on average, two to three blacks in the South were illegally hanged, burned, or otherwise murdered every week” (Fremon 37). Two to three black people were killed every week. The amount of abuse was so much and was for random minor “crimes” and sometimes black were even falsely accused.
Race is one the most sensitive and controversial topics of our time. As kids, we were taught that racism has gotten better as times has passed. However, the author, Michelle Alexander, of The New Jim Crow proposes the argument that racism has not gotten better, but the form of racism that we known in textbooks is not the racism we experience today. Michelle Alexander has countless amounts of plausible arguments, but she has failed to be a credible author, since she doesn’t give enough citations or evidence for her argument to convince people who may not have prior agreement with her agreement.. Alexander’s biggest mistake when it came to being a credible author was starting off the book with a countless number of claims without any evidence in her Introduction.
In the eyes of Martin Luther King Jr., Justice within a society is achieved through the implementation of just laws. Furthermore, “just laws are regulations that have been created by man that follow the laws of God for man” (“Clergymen’s Letter”). Any law that does not correspond with the ideals of God and morality are considered to be unjust or a form of injustice. King identifies that injustice is clearly evident within the justice system. This injustice can truly be seen through the misconduct imposed toward the African American community.
Annotated Bibliography Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Alexander opens up on the history of the criminal justice system, disciplinary crime policy and race in the U.S. detailing the ways in which crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the reduction and defeat of black Americans.
Slavery is over therefore how can racism still exist? This has been a question posed countlessly in discussions about race. What has proven most difficult is adequately demonstrating how racism continues to thrive and how forms of oppression have manifested. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, argues that slavery has not vanished; it instead has taken new forms that allowed it to flourish in modern society. These forms include mass incarceration and perpetuation of racist policies and societal attitudes that are disguised as color-blindness that ultimately allow the system of oppression to continue.