Being a white male with very little history with the police (when I was 15, I was arrested for possession of alcohol), I was a bit skeptical when I began reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Her premise is that, despite our efforts to end a racial caste system, where those of a single race or social group are marginalized, oppressed, and kept from making significant contributions to society, we have only redesigned it. Though we have elected an African American into office, we have fallen asleep to the tragic and immense incarceration of large percentages of the African American population.
Just as the black population before the civil rights movement was kept from voting, participating in juries, and relegated to a racially segregated and subordinated existence (hence the reference to Jim Crow in the title), so is a large portion of the same racial group kept from participating in those same significant social areas and activities today.
We can look back and see that the Jim Crow laws were unjust and wrong. But today, while the same end is taking place, we are less likely to see the injustice. The movement now works under the guise of criminal justice. Those who suffer its consequences deserve to suffer - right? We wish it were that easy.
So far, Michelle Alexander has at least argued that it is not. The criminal justice system and the laws that support and execute under its authority, is not so simple. There are laws that are commonly overlooked. There are less-than-right practices in the court rooms that have been adopted as commonplace and pragmatically necessary. And there are statistics, since the declaration of the War on Drugs, that are staggering only to those who currently constitute the substance of the statistical data.
The comment that demanded my attention was, "There is no doubt that if young white people were incarcerated at the same rates as young black people, the issue would be a national emergency." I had to agree.
Here are some statistics that Alexander lists - statistics that, at least for me, demand an open ear to what she has to say:
1. One in three young Africa American men will serve time in prison if current trends continue, and in some cities more than half of all young adult black men are currently under correctional control - in prison or jail, on probation or parole.
2. In two decades, between 1980 and 2000, the number of people incarcerated in our nation's prisons and jails soared from roughly 300,000 to more than 2 million.
3. By the end of 2007, more than 7 million Americans - or one in every 31 adults - were behind bars, on probation or on parole.
4. There are more people in prisons and jails today just for drug offenses than were incarcerated for all reasons in 1980.
5. Approximately 500,000 people are in prison or jail for a drug offense today, compared to an estimated 41,000 in 1980 - an increase of 1,100 percent.
In her book, Alexander argues that "mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should fully commit themselves to dismantling this new racial caste system...The widespread belief that race no longer matters - has blinded us to the realities of race in our society and facilitated the emergence of a new caste system."
She insists that, contrary to popular belief, "the fact that more than half of the young black men in many large American cities are currently under the control of the criminal justice system (or saddled with criminal records) is not just a symptom of poverty or poor choices, but rather evidence of a new racial caste system at work."
I am currently on the second chapter. The verdict is still out, but my social senses are at least awakened and sympathetic toward her argument. When I read books like this I have to force myself to look hard into my racial blind spots. I have to try and see life, sin, injustice, and other important issues from different perspectives. I am glad for this book so far. I will be posting as I read.
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