Michelle Alexander (1) (1967–)

A meticulously researched and expertly argued critical analysis of the racial motivations of the War on Drugs. This far-reaching history details the birth and death of the Jim Crow era and what political forces moved in to fill the void after its demise. It explores the way the modern American ethos of color-blindness has allowed an racially targeted system of oppression to flourish beyond a veil of justice. It documents the progressive powers granted to law enforcement and the building show more pressure to continue producing criminals or lose their funding. It examines the bloated prison system, fattened over time by mandatory minimum sentences, and makes suggestions to activists on how to approach dismantling the system.

I found this book to be extremely discouraging, convicting, and inspiring. It is eloquently written and hauntingly direct in details. A lot of these ideas have passed into general knowledge, and while nothing in this book was particularly surprising, it was very difficult to see it all laid out so clearly. However, I believe this book is necessary reading for the American public. It's hard to be aware of the bizarre nature of the world you live in, until you are shown an alternative, and America is very much alone in the industrialized world for pursing this system of criminal justice. show less

Overwhelmingly depressing, but convincing in its argument that after the formal dismantling of Jim Crow in 1964, a new technique to maintain a racial undercaste: the War on Drugs. Although antidrug laws are race neutral, their enforcement are not. While whites and blacks use and sell drugs at approximately the same rates, enforcement efforts target blacks to the end that mind-popping levels of incarceration never before seen on the planet have been achieved, with 80% or more of prisoners show more coming from minority groups.

Even when released these felons are denied any benefit that might allow them to productive reintegrate into society: they are permanently denied food stamps, public housing, as well as the right to vote. They cannot find employment. The cumulative effects on the individual and the group is devastation on a massive scale. But because this is tauted as colorblind and individual responsibility, these massive incarceration works escape censure for their racist foundations and effects.

It is an appalling situation. The author is light on how the problem might be solved, but one hopes that, perhaps eventually, enough social will can be mustered to effect the fundamental changes that will be required to truly correct this injustice. show less

I reread this book at the beginning of 2021 simply because my perspectives and understanding of the impact of racism in America had evolved since my first reading in 2018. I am glad I did. It is an informative, well written and well researched book, a book I would like to say that everyone should read, even as I recognize that this will never happen. It is a valuable book, filled with complex ideas and well-researched information. On the downside, at least for this reader, there is show more considerable repetition in the opening sections, which I still found extremely annoying, although this time around I perhaps found myself more willing to forgive, understanding that the author may have felt the repetition was necessary given the complexity of the subject. I disagree but it is a relatively minor quibble.

Unlike so many books, Alexander's message grows stronger and more focused as the book progresses. The book moves from outrage, outrage that is focused but simultaneously still somewhat nebulous (hence repetition) as to details, to a deeply detailed critical study of the current situation, its roots, its history and its entrenched pervasiveness. The book starts where we are, knowing something is wrong but not knowing how or why, and then delineates the spider web of entrenched biases and systems that have led us to this place, a place in which should never have found ourselves. The last section, with its pointed and often painful analysis of the pitfalls of past reform and its damning account of what is needed, is the books strength. It is a book that is worthy of rereading, and even gains in strength. show less

This is an incredibly dense and important work. If you want to understand how a nominally colorblind criminal justice system leads to racially biased mass incarceration of Black and Latino men, you should read this. Published in 2012, it continues to be relevant. Some of the examples are starting to show their age, but the core system it describes is still in place.

The New Jim Crow is a system of racial control meant to marginalize Blacks. It was built to replace Jim Crow laws, just as that show more caste system was built to replace slavery. Each of these caste systems has responded to the downfall of the system before it. The New Jim Crow, in particular, has to hide racial bias behind the veil of a colorblind system.

The motivation for a racially motivated system of control is to create a wedge between poor Blacks and poor Whites so that they do not form a coalition against the more affluent. By pushing down Blacks, Whites avoid being at the bottom of America's social hierarchy.

The tool used to replace segregation was calls for law and order. Civil rights activists were portrayed as wanting to disturb the peace. The primary tool of the New Jim Crow is mass incarceration built on top of the War on Drugs. From the start, the War on Drugs included an intentional effort to associate Blackness with drugs and criminality. This is despite the fact that Whites use and sell drugs at rates comparable to Blacks.

How does a nominal colorblind criminal justice system act as a tool of racial control? At every step of the process, bias is allowed into the system. Law enforcement officers have large amounts of discretion. They have financial incentives to increase drug arrests. Because of the systematic racialization of drug criminals as Black, society tends to ignore civil rights violations in Black communities. Put all of these together, to disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black community.

Second, the courts have systematically worked to ensure that only clear evidence of individually targeted racism is considered valid grounds for racial discrimination. Statistical patterns, no matter how widespread or well supported, are not considered valid evidence. Support for such discriminatory outcomes have been justified, in part, by the observation that while there is evidence for biased outcomes, questioning the colorblindness of the criminal justice system would lead to it falling apart.

Finally, convicted criminals are subject to legal discrimination in housing, employment, education, public benefits, and voting. This creates a permanent undercaste which is unable to integrate back into the mainstream economic system.

The critical thing to note about this process is that it does not depend on explicit racism. Racially biased outcomes are the result of how the system as a whole fits together.

Because of this, removing the racial bias in the criminal justice system requires more than incremental fixes. Changes are required across the whole system. Furthermore, for those changes to have lasting effect we must acknowledge the role of race in the current system. If not, the current caste system will just be replaced by another.

Successfully dismantling racial caste systems will require a broad coalition. This cannot be limited to just groups who have traditionally been discriminated against. Even though it may raise legitimate anger, we must bring White men into the coalition and find a way to build a system that works for everyone. Race has been used as a racial wedge in the past. We cannot let it continue to be used as one. show less