Racism In The New Jim Crow, By James Baldwin

Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow discusses ways in which the prison system of the United states has become a cycle for many prisoners instead of a method for them to repent and regret their crimes while James Baldwin’s A Talk to Teachers features the first-hand experience of the author himself dealing with racism in the education system. Both authors, who are black Americans discuss racism in times where it is thought that racism is no longer present. Many people might think of racism and think of times before the Civil Rights movement in the United States or apartheid in South Africa however both Alexander and Baldwin discuss select manners in which they have witnessed or experienced racism as black Americans post-the Civil Rights movement …show more content…
Instead, studies have shown that the rate of drug usage is nearly consistent among people regardless of their race or ethnicity. As seen in the book, black Americans are usually the ones who are typically thought of by many people as drug users however. While many Americans have a tendency to think that police officers have a superior sense of who may be a criminal, Alexander addresses the fact that a great deal of arrests are guides by internal biases, often influenced by racist stereotypes. Thus, this becomes a primary cause of the mass incarceration of black Americans in the American criminal justice system. Baldwin’s essay A Talk to Teachers offers brutally sincere insight into the racism experienced by black Americans in the educational system. As Baldwin writes in his essay, “...in fact it begins when he is in school – before he discovers the shape of his oppression.” to declare that the education system was simply not devised with the well-being of black Americans in mind. As he suggests, his teachers held prejudice against the …show more content…
In the book, one of the main issues focused on by Alexander is the the widespread thought-of image of a drug user - as it is typically believed a drug user would be a black American, a key gesture to assist in preventing the mass incarceration of black Americans would be the counter this image. Instead, it should be common knowledge to everyone that people drug usage is not dependent on race and ethnicity but on people’s choices. Baldwin’s A Talk to Teachers, contrary to the The New Jim Crow, does offer a direct answer as to what he believes should be done to prevent the typical cycle of seemingly failure of black Americans in society. According to Baldwin, it is a task that falls on teachers - to warn students of color of their surroundings and dangers situations which may seem enticing, or easier, than to follow a path contrary to all the stereotypes held by white people. Alexander and Baldwin both guide the reader to recognize that in people with privilege must utilize it to counter stereotypes and assist black Americans and people of color from low-income areas in defying the odds; that instead of holding ignoring the issues, that we must all recognize