In today’s society, more African Americans compared to any other race are under the control of the criminal justice system than were enslaved in the 1800s. In 2007, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission over 81% of convicted felons were African Americans. Since majority of felons are of colored people the system of mass incarceration depicts that racial discrimination remains as powerful as it was during slavery and the era of Jim Crow. In this paper, we will discuss Michelle Alexander’s viewpoints and relate the connection between mass incarceration and the –isms (classism, sexism, racism). Also, we will we argue how discrimination still exists in housing, education, employment when labeled as a “felon”, and give possible recommendations
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Alexander defines “racial caste” as a racial group locked into an inferior position by the law. At the heart of her argument, she believes that our current criminal justice system is a caste system. During the original Jim Crow laws, when slavery ended racial discrimination was thought to end too. However, it was reformed and introduced in public housing, employment, and so on. (“New Jim Crow”)
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s ended the Jim Crow era; however, the racial caste system still existed in Alexander’s eyes it was just redesigned. The movement was not just for colored people, but also for people in general. Laws were designed to give African Americans a disadvantage. For example, law enforcement focuses on lower income communities when targeting drug distributions. Instead of apprehending the main distributor they rather imprison millions of colored people who purchase minimum amounts of …show more content…
In addition, after they complete their sentences the lives of convicted felons will never be the same. For instance, they are discriminated against their ability to obtain public housing, employment, and even benefits such as Medicaid and Welfare. Many of them live in disgrace and despair in their communities without much help to start a new life. It is clear that our criminal justice system today was influenced by the racist views of those who were in power during the Jim Crow era. Instead of figuring beneficial ways to end the “War on Drugs”, those in power look around it and continue the legacy of keeping millions of African American males
Alexander defines “racial caste” as a racial group locked into an inferior position by the law. At the heart of her argument, she believes that our current criminal justice system is a caste system. During the original Jim Crow laws, when slavery ended racial discrimination was thought to end too. However, it was reformed and introduced in public housing, employment, and so on. (“New Jim Crow”)
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s ended the Jim Crow era; however, the racial caste system still existed in Alexander’s eyes it was just redesigned. The movement was not just for colored people, but also for people in general. Laws were designed to give African Americans a disadvantage. For example, law enforcement focuses on lower income communities when targeting drug distributions. Instead of apprehending the main distributor they rather imprison millions of colored people who purchase minimum amounts of …show more content…
In addition, after they complete their sentences the lives of convicted felons will never be the same. For instance, they are discriminated against their ability to obtain public housing, employment, and even benefits such as Medicaid and Welfare. Many of them live in disgrace and despair in their communities without much help to start a new life. It is clear that our criminal justice system today was influenced by the racist views of those who were in power during the Jim Crow era. Instead of figuring beneficial ways to end the “War on Drugs”, those in power look around it and continue the legacy of keeping millions of African American males