Throughout the semester, we have discussed many different issues that are currently prevalent in the United States, specifically those related to racial discrimination. One specific issue that I have developed interest and research in is that of institutionalized racism, specifically in the form of mass incarceration, and what kinds of effects mass incarceration has on a community. In this paper, I will briefly examine a range of issues surrounding the mass incarceration of black and Latino males, the development of a racial undercaste because of rising incarceration rates, women and children’s involvement and roles they attain in the era of mass incarceration, and the economic importance that the prison system has due to its development. Michelle Alexander, in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, examines the development of institutionalized racism following the war on drugs, and how it has created what Alexander calls a “New Jim Crow era,” or a racial caste in the US. Alexander describes this undercaste as, “a lower caste of individuals who are permanently barred by law and custom from mainstream society,” (Alexander, 32). Not only is this because of mass incarceration rates among black men, but extends to the effects that these branded felons must face beyond prison walls. By checking the well known box on any application, it has become legal for almost any institution or corporation to discriminate against a marked felon. Alexander notes that, “Once you’re labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination – employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusio... ... middle of paper ... ... Jane Crow: Reproductive Rights in the Age of Mass Incarceration." American Journal Of Public Health 103.1 (2013): 17-21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. Rios, Victor M. Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. New York: New York University Press, 2011. Print. Simmons, Michaela. "Voices on the Outside: Mass Incarceration and the Women Left Behind." International Journal Of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 6.4 (2011): 71-83. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. Thompson, Heather Ann. "Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History." Journal Of American History 97.3 (2010): 703-734. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. Vogel, Erin. “Roosevelt Students Lead Campaign Against Armed Police in Chicago Schools.” Red Eye [Chicago, IL] 28 Feb. 2013. Print.
The US Justice Department statistics 2003 and onwards demonstrates significant disproportion in the incarceration rate of minority African American and Hispanic men between the ages of 25 and 29 years as compared to the rate associated with White men of the same age. Bell (2007), proposes that as minority groups grow in numbers within the dominant group they will experience greater equality. However, rate of incarceration among minority males remains alarmingly high and as compared to their White counterparts. As with health care there are racial disparities that will influence outcomes when an individual is brought before the criminal courts. Additionally, there is significant correlation between a person’s level of education and the likelihood of his involvement in criminal activities. Studies and statistics have shown that among male high school dropouts there is high incidence of unemployment, low income and rate of illicit drug use as compared to men with degrees from four year colleges. Further to this, although the rate of school dropout and even arrest is not significantly different across the race lines, literature alludes that African American men have a higher rate of conviction for the same crime committed.
The book Punished: Policing the lives of Black and Latino boys by Victor Rios is about the Latinos and African Americans in poor parts of the city joining gangs, do violence, and ending up in prison. It is also add how the police are handling the situation differently in these areas. The researcher is Victor Rios and the goal is to change how the police should handle in these poor communities and to have trust to prevent a crime that is unrelated with African Americans and Latinos. Additionally to develop new programs to help these young people out of prison to be productive, to be part of society, and to create a brighter future for these young people and their community. This is
In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander states that we still use our criminal justice system to “label people of color ‘criminals’ and then engage i...
The Author transitions the past and present signatures of Jim Crow and the New Jim Crow with the suggestion that the New Jim Crow, by mass incarceration and racism as a whole, marginalizes and relegates Blacks to residential, educational and constitutionally endowed service to the Country. The final chapter of The New Jim Crow reviews the manner in which the Black community might respond to the racism that exists today. Some research implies that we in America have reached a point of attrition as to incarceration, and the positive effects outweigh the negative effects of marginalization and collateral damage to the community. By some research, the "War on Drugs" procreates poverty, joblessness, family breakdown, and crime.
To begin, Alexander points out how felons are depicted as life-long prisoners in her article ”The New Jim Crow”. However, Alexander states that The War on Drugs caused many blacks to be put in prison and scrutinized by the government thereafter. Similarly, according to Arnold, welfare/workfare recipients are under constant supervision and are required to work menial jobs. In addition, Arnold mentio...
“The New Jim Crow” is an article by Michelle Alexander, published by the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. Michelle is a professor at the Ohio State Moritz college of criminal law as well as a civil rights advocate. Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law is part of the world’s top education system, is accredited by the American Bar Association, and is a long-time member of the American Law association. The goal of “The New Jim Crow” is to inform the public about the issues of race in our country, especially our legal system. The article is written in plain English, so the common person can fully understand it, but it also remains very professional. Throughout the article, Alexander provides factual information about racial issues in our country. She relates them back to the Jim Crow era and explains how the large social problem affects individual lives of people of color all over the country. By doing this, Alexander appeals to the reader’s ethos, logos, and pathos, forming a persuasive essay that shifts the understanding and opinions of all readers.
Today, more African American adults are under correctional control than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began (Alexander 180). Throughout history, there have been multiple racial caste systems in the United States. In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander defines a “racial caste” as “a racial group locked into an inferior position by law and custom” (12). Alexander argues that both Jim Crow and slavery functioned as racial caste systems, and that our current system of mass incarceration functions as a similar caste system, which she labels “The New Jim Crow”. There is now a silent Jim Crow in our nation. Mass incarceration today serves the same function as did slavery before the Civil War and Jim Crow laws after the Civil War - to uphold a racial caste system.
Victor Rios is a previous gang member, whom “was given the opportunity” to get out of the youth control complex. In his book “Punished”, he analyzes the experiences of young black and Latino boys in Oakland, California. Rios gives us an intimate description of some of the everyday forms of “hyper discrimination” these minority boys experience. This book review will focus on the main concepts explained in chapters one through three from the book Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys.
... 2 -. Copyright 2006 by Northwestern University, School of Law. Hull, Elizabeth. The Disenfranchisement of Ex-Felons.
The book "Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys" is written by Victor M. Rios, who was a former gang member in his hometown and later turned his life around. He went to Berkeley and earned a doctorate in sociology. This book explores how youth of color are punished and criminalized by authorities even under the situation where there is no crimes committed and how it can cause a harmful consequence for the young man and their community in Oakland, California. The goal is to show the consequences of social control on the lives of young people of color and try to remind the authorities. This is important Since society plays a crucial part in shaping the lives of people. And the authorities have biases towards them and mistreat
Standards for Hiring People with Criminal Records. 11 Mar 2010. http://www.lac.org/ ‘’Legal Affairs’’ http://www.legalaffairs.org/webexclusive/debateclub_disenfranchisement1104.msp ‘’Locked Out’’ Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy. 11 Mar. 2010. http://www.powells.com/biblio/65-9780195149326-0 Prison Segregation and Felon Disenfranchisement.
In this paper I will discuss Inequality In The Promised Land by E. L’Heureuz Lewis-McCoy. McCoy examines the underlying inequality and micro racial aggressions present within the seemingly diverse and progressive Rolling Acres Public School system. Three major themes I will focus on are the concerted cultivation approach to parenting, the disparity in the ability of students of different races to acquire access to resources, and how the engagement of poor and middle class parents impacts their children’s education. I will also discuss “Marked: Race, Crime & Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration” by Devah Pager. Pager’s work focuses on the effects that the criminal justice system has on ex-inmates, more specifically the effects of race
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book “The New Jim Crow”, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve to maintain African American people controlled by institutions. In this book her analyses is centered in examining the mass incarceration phenomenon in recent years. Comparing Jim Crow with mass incarceration she points out that mass incarceration is a network of laws, policies, customs and institutions that works together –almost invisible– to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined by race, African American (p. 178 -190).
The most problematic conclusion about Mass Incarceration, whatever the causes or practices, is that currently America has had the highest national prison rates in the world; furthermore, the rates of minorities (particularly African Americans) are extraordinarily disproportionate to the rates of incarcerated Caucasians. Despite the overall rise in incarceration rates since the 1980s, the crime rates have not been reduced as would be expected. Researchers, activists, and politicians alike are now taking a closer look at Mass Incarceration and how it affects society on a larger scale. The purpose of this paper is to examine the anatomy of Mass Incarceration for a better understanding of its importance as a dominant social issue and its ultimate relation to practice of social work. More specifically the populations affected by mass incarceration and the consequences implacable to social justice. The context of historical perspectives on mass incarceration will be analyzed as well as insight to the current social welfare policies on the
The social effects can be described as an increasingly harsh legal system for juveniles into their adult years as the expansion of the prison industrial complex continues to increase. The criminalization of black individuals creates the stereotypical cultural effect of a dangerous black man or angry black woman. The political aspect of the issues resides in the industrial prison complex where the government profits off of criminalizing our children. The ecological levels of self, family, and community all play a role in the theory of why youth in the targeted classifications fall under this social injustice that persists in our nation. This theory helps explain the fragility of the “School to prison pipeline” foundation. As researchers, we should question what social and political effects of the school-to-prison pipeline impact African Americans and what possible solutions can be applied to eliminate the epidemic? Using a qualitative research methodology, the discourse will be debated in order to bring underlying facts to the forefront. The system was never built to accommodate those who it targets and instead it was created to work against people of color, poor or disabled.