The New Jim Crow
In Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” the author makes a case that modern African-Americans are under the control of the criminal justice system. This includes African Americans who are incarcerated in prisons and jails as well as those on probation or parole. Alexander claims that there are more African Americans under the thumb of the criminal justice system today than were enslaved in 1850. Moreover, discrimination against African Americans is also at an all-time high in the housing, education, and employment sectors and with regard to voting rights. Many Americans have been deceived into believing that the civil rights laws of the 1960s eradicated these things …show more content…
Alexander contends that during both the Jim Crow era and slavery, functioning caste systems were used to suppress African Americans. The current mass incarceration system functions in very much the same manner as the caste systems during slavery and the Jim Crow eras. Alexander aptly calls it “The New Jim Crow.” She gets her inspiration for her title from the public housing, employment, and education discrimination that African-Americans have endured since the end of slavery and the beginning of the original Jim Crow laws taking effect. This discrimination has spilled over into voting and other areas as well and has, in essence, created barriers at every level to prevent African Americans from succeeding in a functioning society. The Civil Rights movement was spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the end of the Jim Crow era, resulting in the successful passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite these progressive changes in favor of African Americans, the struggles have never fully disappeared. Alexander contends that the caste system of slavery and post-slavery and the days of Jim Crow have simply been revamped for our modern day through the criminal justice …show more content…
In fact, she, like Alexander, calls the current education system in America the new Jim Crow. Marrus contends, “there has been much discussion about the education system’s inability to provide children with the means to succeed in our modern, global society” (28). Add to that concerns about the way teachers and schools are evaluated, and what students are being taught, with the primary focus being on those students who are troubled, have been put in alternative placements to receive their education, such as juvenile detention centers. There has been much debate as to whether students in these settings are receiving the same equivalent of educational standards as their non-juvenile peers. The other dynamic Marrus speaks to is the disproportionate number of African-American children who are displaced from their home settings through foster care, living in poverty, and entrenched in the juvenile justice system (29). As Darden (2009) describes, “the detachment of the American public from the South’s Jim Crow past still complicates domestic race relations today, let alone the public’s perceptions of the legacy of racism in the developing world” (8). Jim Crow was the figurehead for race relations in the South for well over 60 years. Although many would concede this was in the distant past, it would be difficult at best to argue that race relations have fallen
In Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” the author makes a case that modern African-Americans are under the control of the criminal justice system. This includes African Americans who are incarcerated in prisons and jails as well as those on probation or parole. Alexander claims that there are more African Americans under the thumb of the criminal justice system today than were enslaved in 1850. Moreover, discrimination against African Americans is also at an all-time high in the housing, education, and employment sectors and with regard to voting rights. Many Americans have been deceived into believing that the civil rights laws of the 1960s eradicated these things …show more content…
Alexander contends that during both the Jim Crow era and slavery, functioning caste systems were used to suppress African Americans. The current mass incarceration system functions in very much the same manner as the caste systems during slavery and the Jim Crow eras. Alexander aptly calls it “The New Jim Crow.” She gets her inspiration for her title from the public housing, employment, and education discrimination that African-Americans have endured since the end of slavery and the beginning of the original Jim Crow laws taking effect. This discrimination has spilled over into voting and other areas as well and has, in essence, created barriers at every level to prevent African Americans from succeeding in a functioning society. The Civil Rights movement was spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the end of the Jim Crow era, resulting in the successful passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite these progressive changes in favor of African Americans, the struggles have never fully disappeared. Alexander contends that the caste system of slavery and post-slavery and the days of Jim Crow have simply been revamped for our modern day through the criminal justice …show more content…
In fact, she, like Alexander, calls the current education system in America the new Jim Crow. Marrus contends, “there has been much discussion about the education system’s inability to provide children with the means to succeed in our modern, global society” (28). Add to that concerns about the way teachers and schools are evaluated, and what students are being taught, with the primary focus being on those students who are troubled, have been put in alternative placements to receive their education, such as juvenile detention centers. There has been much debate as to whether students in these settings are receiving the same equivalent of educational standards as their non-juvenile peers. The other dynamic Marrus speaks to is the disproportionate number of African-American children who are displaced from their home settings through foster care, living in poverty, and entrenched in the juvenile justice system (29). As Darden (2009) describes, “the detachment of the American public from the South’s Jim Crow past still complicates domestic race relations today, let alone the public’s perceptions of the legacy of racism in the developing world” (8). Jim Crow was the figurehead for race relations in the South for well over 60 years. Although many would concede this was in the distant past, it would be difficult at best to argue that race relations have fallen