Justifying Slavery - More on The New Jim Crow

The mass incarceration of significant percentages of the African American population is the "new Jim Crow." This is Alexander's foundational premise in her book The New Jim Crow. There is an inherent racial caste system in the United States that actively locks racial minorities (viz., African Americans) into inferior positions in society. Using racial language no longer works and therefore a new language must be adopted. Instead of using terms like "Negro," one must use terms like "criminal."

Before the civil rights movement innocent "Negros" were oppressed and enslaved. Alexander argues that things have not changed - oppression and slavery remains. The only difference is that we now use the criminal justice system to rename the target population. Innocent Negros are no longer enslaved, guilty criminals are. Alexander quotes Richard Nixon saying, "It's all about those damn Negro - Puerto Rican groups out there." This quote followed an election ad where Nixon pledged to establish order in the United States.

Since the Civil Rights movement, politicians and the those in public office have developed a strategy of exploiting racial hostility for political gain without making explicit reference to race. The author argues that this racial hostility lies not under the rhetoric of black and white (like it used to be), but under the rhetoric of those who "deserve" and "do not deserve" entitlement dollars. She writes, "The not-so-subtle message to working-class whites was that their tax dollars were going to support special programs for blacks who most certainly did not deserve them."

The inherent message of many political campaigns was not racial in nature but moral. Whites were not led to hate blacks, but they were encouraged to become embittered toward those who were taking and using their tax dollars unjustly. Blacks with food stamps were eating t-bones while struggling whites without food stamps where eating hamburger. You don't have to be a genius to see the natural effects of this portrait. And you certainly don't have to live in America long to see that this portrait is a reality in the American mind.

Michelle Alexander's statements almost seem hyperbolic and exaggerated. I have been taken back a number of times by certain allegations she makes, whether implicitly or explicitly. I will say, however, that she has made no arbitrary allegations thus far. Here work is well done. Her history is thorough and her logic, for the most part, consistent. Beginning with the pre-Civil War era and slowly combing through the racial dynamics of the following years of American history, Alexander points out clear oppressive and destructive patterns that have plagued African Americans for centuries.

I will end this post with one of her post-emancipation examples. After the abolition of slavery in America, plantation owners in the South faced financial collapse. State governments were broke. Properties and families were completely destroyed by the war. The culture was demoralized by the effects of an unsuccessful war. And when you throw in millions of newly freed slaves, circumstances grow increasingly complex. Those in power in the South immediately sought to develop a new racial order. Blacks were the problem in their eyes, not part of the solution.

Therefore, taking advantage of their ability to make and enforce laws, Southern states adopted black codes - vagrancy laws being an example. These vagrancy laws made it a criminal offense not to work. These laws were selectively applied to blacks. And here is the rub: Eight southern states enacted convict laws allowing for the hiring-out of county prisoners to plantation owners and private companies. Prisoners were forced to work for little to no pay.

So as the federal government made strides to end slavery, those in power at the state level found ways to continue the practice under the new legal system. While it was illegal to force an innocent man into slavery, laws were made to force the innocent man into being a guilty man. And it is not criminal offense to force a guilty man to do the work slaves used to do - after all, he deserves it.

If Alexander's history is true, the mass incarceration movement of the 21st century may not be as simple as it seems. We just might have a new Jim Crow on our hands. For me, the picture is at least plausibly set. More color must be added. Given the nature of the first few chapters, I fully expect such strokes of the literary brush. I will keep you posted.