The New Jim Crow Mass incarceration in the Age of colorblindness by Michelle Alexander is a book that I feel every person should read, it is not only limited to the African American people. When Michelle Alexander wrote her book, she had a specific audience in mind. This book was written for those unaware of “the magnitude of the crisis faced by communities of color because of mass incarceration” (Alexander, 2010). During many periods of life there has been chaos among American communities of color and this epidemic has mostly gone unnoticed, even by those involved with racial justice issues. Even though much progress has been made African Americans are still placed in a racial caste which is known as a stigmatized racial group locked into
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I was then humiliated of the thoughts that came to mind. We are all human beings and have the same blood running through our veins. If we discriminate against our own people how can we be upset when other races, and ethnic groups categorize us. This book was a major eye opener to the various social issues many turn a blind eye too.
There were countless examples in the book that depicted how African Americans are being marginalized even still to this very day. What seemed troubling furthermore is how the criminal justice system has been used as "a gateway into a much larger system of racial stigmatization. The criminal justice system is made up of laws, and policies that are set into place to control people regardless if they are either in the prison systems or not. Once an individual has been released from prison they enter a world of legalized discrimination (Alexander, 2010). They are then considered members of America 's new under caste. Today, it is so valuable that a person can exercise their right to vote particularly with the upcoming election. If a person has committed a crime and are considered a “felon” in some …show more content…
When one thinks about the design of the system and how it is set up for people of color to fail we often overlook those that do well and succeed. Each person who has committed a crime has not fallen subject to their circumstances. There are many African Americans who have elevated above what the mass incarceration system would want. There are countless men and women who have beat the odds and are continuing to survive and stay out of prison. They are managing to be productive members of society even though at times it seems that the world maybe against them. This is what many people who place such systems among African Americans hate to see. There are many intelligent men and women incarcerated because of poor choices they have made. As a collective nation are we embracing ex-offenders and their humanness? We are all human and are subject to make mistakes but that doesn’t mean one should be stigmatized. Not only from whites but also other people of
I was then humiliated of the thoughts that came to mind. We are all human beings and have the same blood running through our veins. If we discriminate against our own people how can we be upset when other races, and ethnic groups categorize us. This book was a major eye opener to the various social issues many turn a blind eye too.
There were countless examples in the book that depicted how African Americans are being marginalized even still to this very day. What seemed troubling furthermore is how the criminal justice system has been used as "a gateway into a much larger system of racial stigmatization. The criminal justice system is made up of laws, and policies that are set into place to control people regardless if they are either in the prison systems or not. Once an individual has been released from prison they enter a world of legalized discrimination (Alexander, 2010). They are then considered members of America 's new under caste. Today, it is so valuable that a person can exercise their right to vote particularly with the upcoming election. If a person has committed a crime and are considered a “felon” in some …show more content…
When one thinks about the design of the system and how it is set up for people of color to fail we often overlook those that do well and succeed. Each person who has committed a crime has not fallen subject to their circumstances. There are many African Americans who have elevated above what the mass incarceration system would want. There are countless men and women who have beat the odds and are continuing to survive and stay out of prison. They are managing to be productive members of society even though at times it seems that the world maybe against them. This is what many people who place such systems among African Americans hate to see. There are many intelligent men and women incarcerated because of poor choices they have made. As a collective nation are we embracing ex-offenders and their humanness? We are all human and are subject to make mistakes but that doesn’t mean one should be stigmatized. Not only from whites but also other people of