Critical Review The New Jim Crow - 1520 Words

Teleia Jones Dr. Conner Criminology May 7, 2016 Critical Review Essay In The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Modern Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, the author argues the legal system doing its job â€Å"perfectly† well—the United States has simply replaced one caste system, the Jim Crow laws instituted in the 1880s and designed to oppress recently freed black slaves, for another—a system which uses the War on Drugs, which was instituted in the 1970s, to imprison, parole, and detain people of color, keeping the majority of minorities in the United States in a permanent state of incarceration. This an important issue because it affects the everyday lives of people around the nation. Alexander looks in detail at what economists normally miss—the entire legal structure of the courts, parole, probation and laws that effectively turn a person who may have done the crime into a person who is unworthy or â€Å"incapable† of rehabilitation. Alexander does a wonderful job of telling the truth, and blaming t he right people, who can be liberal or conservative, white or black, who inflict this injustice on others. Alexander’s writing, however, does lack a structure that the reader can follow, which ultimately weakens her overall case. In The New Jim Crow, much of the focus spotlights the issue of the War on Drugs and how that those supposed anti-drug policies have created unequal members of society. TheWar on Drugs was first waged in 1971, when President Richard Nixon firstShow MoreRelatedThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1477 Words   |  6 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness, by Michelle Alexander. The New Press, 2010. 290 pages. Reviewed by Ashlei G Cameron. Michelle alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate and legal scholar. As an associate professor of law at Standford law school, she directed the Civil Rights Clinic and pursued a research agenda focused on the intersection of race and criminal justice. In 2005. Alexander won a Soros Justice Fellowship that supported the writingRead MoreThe New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander Essay1653 Words   |  7 PagesThe third critical book review for this class takes a look at â€Å"The New Jim Crow† by Michelle Alexander published in 2012 by the New York Press. This book analyzes the problem with the incarceration system in the United States today that unfairly affects the African American community. This incarceration system is continuing to separate families, strip men of their freedom, and effectually make them into second class citizens upon release from prison as â€Å"free† men. She even describes that thoseRead MoreBayard Rustin And The Civil Rights Movement1338 Words   |  6 Pagesand James Weldon Johnson who were frequent visitors at their home (Spartacus Educational Publishers). These events were a great influence on him and can be said to have contributed to his interest in campaigns against the racially discriminatory Jim Crow laws during his teenage years and the civil rights as well as LGBT rights later on in life. It is in high school, where he excelled in academia as well as sports, where Rustin first protested against racial segregation by refusing to sit on a balconyRead MoreThe African-American Male and the Criminal Justice System2725 Words   |  11 Pagesnationwide account, 23 percent of Black males ranging in age from 16 to 24 who have dropped out of high school are incarcerated in a county jail, prison, or some other aspect related to a juvenile institution, as result of not graduating high school (News America Media, 2009).Talbot (2000) substantiates, just as other data mentioned earlier noted, that in the last couple of decades, 45 out of the 50 U.S. states have amended a number of laws to hasten prosecution of these youth and to charge them inRead MoreWhy I Write A Research Paper900 Words   |  4 Pageschoose and change their topics, our instructor wanted us to choose a topic before the end of week one. The instructor briefly talked the New Jim Crow book in the first class, so I thought we had to do our research related to race issues and chose prison industrial complex as my topic. However, my instructor pointed out that my topic was too similar to the New Jim Crow, and I should change my topic. I was confused about what to do, so I decided to wait and see what topics did my classmates choose. AfterRead More21st Century Segregation: Are We Still Divided by Race?1642 Words   |  7 PagesDivided by Race? Racial segregation was a concept that began in early history and is still prevalent in some societies today. It is often seen as a destructive forceful tactic of separating individuals based on their racial background. However, many new immigrants voluntarily choose to live in a segregated society. Segregation can be easily seen in certain communities where there is a concentration containing a particular racial group. The area where one lives significantly influences their overallRead MoreLife Interview Review Essay3177 Words   |  13 PagesLife Review Interview Aminata Conteh Professor Sandra Hill-Williams SOWK 505 8-18-2012 Introduction When I saw Ms. Mary Walker, the word â€Å"Old† does not even cross my mind. I was very surprised when I found out her age. It seemed strange that a woman of this age could show so much youth, little wrinkles, mobility, and did not cough every ten seconds as an indicator of good health. Identifying her as an individual in the 68 + age range seemed misleading but a glance at her salt and pepper afroRead MoreOne -Drop Rule2792 Words   |  12 Pagespresent during the time of colonialism and slavery, however it wasn’t until the Jim Crow Era that it was officially referenced in legislation. The evolution of this law from the time of slavery in to Jim Crow resulted from â€Å"The American insistence on absolute white racial purity...[which was] synonymous with racism and central to the evolution of racial identity and resistance in the United States.† [9] The Jim Crow Era can largely be defined by the blatant racism that existed. This racism resultedRead MoreRacism, Prejudice, And Systemic Oppression1772 Words   |  8 Pagesperspectives: 1). that race either needs to be acknowledged and factored into solutions designed to eliminate the racial divide or 2). race needs to be destructured as a concept, returning the focus to a valuation of humanity. Since the initial beginnings of critical race theory as a field of study, academics have created works favoring both sides. Though most favor the former perspective—viewing race as a hurdle to overcome instead of a wall to deconstructed—a few highlight the importance of eliminating raceRead MoreRichard Wright s Native Son2272 Words   |  10 Pagesthe Harlem Renaissance. One of these many revolutionary developments during this time was the branch of sociology called critical theory which combines history, sociology, and a need for change as established by Max Horkheimer. Native Son was a direct product of these times and is, therefore, characterized with the popular thoughts of the er a. The author makes Native Son a critical theory piece and by viewing the novel as such, Richard Wright’s intent in justifying Bigger’s criminality is made evident