Incarceration In The Age Of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander

Racial discrimination is one of the most controversial problems in our society. It is difficult to realize that segregation and stigma of race are still highly alive, and the book “ The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander is a great example of this ideology. In the book the author demonstrates how America has set up a new direction to continue the marginalization of black by using the criminal justice system as well as how “Drug on War” has become a tool of racial segregation that overwhelmingly brought a negative effect on its black population.
This book is written with intend to show that despite the fact that Northern emancipation was complete, the freedom still remains elusive, that

the current criminal justice system locks people not only behind actual bars, but also behind virtual bars, which is invisible to the naked eye (12). That U.S Criminal Justice as a whole have problems of racial biases and that African-American population is a main target of it.
By providing an extensive amount of evidence varying from Supreme Court decisions to legislation, Michelle Alexander proved that in the epoch of “colorblindness”, the system of mass incarceration has emerged as a strikingly comprehensive and well masked system similar to the Jim Crow. In order to better estimate the significance of this issue, we should plunge into the history of this period more deeply.“Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism”.
I do concur with the points she did, that today it is legal to discriminate against ex-offenders in the same manner it was legal to discriminate against African-American. “Once the felon is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal”(94) and privileges of citizenship, such as voting and jury service, public housing, eligibility for food stamps and employment are off-limit. No doubt, this system will seem to everyone very tough. Instead of helping to the person who spend a certain amount of the time behind the bars, instead of rehabilitating him/her and make a positive member of the society, they are taking away absolutely everything that automatically creates a higher rate of criminal activities. Eventually, “this type of institution creates crimes rather than prevent it”(8).
I do agree with Michelle Alexander that the structure of mass incarceration is very dreadful. It is horrible to realize that many defendants are typically denied meaningful legal representation. People like: Leandro Andrade, Marcus Boyd, Weldon Angelos , whose stories shortly described in the book, are only a few models of those who have been affected from the carelessness of the current criminal justice system and who automatically received a label of new under-caste members. I think that once you have been accused, no matter what color you are, black or white, you have an equal chance to fall under this category.
There are also many ideas, that for me personally, very difficult to accept and understand. For instance,since Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution prohibiting unreasonable search and seizures, Michelle Alexander constantly and openly speaks that police use minor violations, as an excuse, in order to circumvent the law on the other hand. Unlawful use of the power certainly should be stopped, but where is the way out of this situation? It is very easy to raise an awareness, but promotes the solution from that - is very heard, on what I drew attention in this book. We should take into consideration that many affairs are practiced on behalf of security, especially in present day, when the whole world is frightened by recent events. Many of us certainly understand that a huge percent of people engaged in illegal drug activities, however at the same time we blame the police in excessive participation, but when the natural process is inherent in the practice, we still displeased.
Another argument- is a Court’s blind eye on race discrimination. She states that” youth of color are more likely to be arrested, detained, formally charged, transferred to adult court, and confine to secure residential facilities than their white counterparts (118)”. I assume that her position sounds clear, however, very discriminatory against white prisoners. Racism is a very sensitive topic. By defending one race, you humiliate others. In her case, this issue was raised in a provocative manner, that awakened internal dissatisfaction. Whites are always being blamed when the issue of racism was brought up. I think that minorities, very often use their race and situation to justify their poor choices. Why we have to stir up the past? From my own perspective, by pulling out the evidences of racial disparity we will motivate people to join the cause of discrimination. Ofcource, it is very important for everybody to know the history of our ancestors, however every conflict should have its own place and time.
Michelle Alexander also states that “there are more African Americans under correctional control today- in prison or jail, on probation or parole- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before a civil war began”.

What this show us, is that nothing has been changed since the collapse of Jim Crow Law when millions of people struggled from political, social and economic inequality. That today, people who paid their debt to the society must wear the tag of “dregs” for the rest of their lives. But just one thing, for me, it is very hard to accept that notion, that only African-American have suffered from such matters as slavery. The historical facts show that white slavery used to be as shameful as black slavery, “ the desire for cheap labor caused the elite merchants and landowners to enslave not only the Negroes but their own white kindred as well. Black were much more expensive than whites. Therefore, whites were mistreated more often than blacks”. Sadly, that this fact ignored, but history of black slavery, many people recall very often. Perhaps, it is not favorable for them to keep silent, perhaps they have their own biases or to awaken a sense of compassion and sense of guilt. Even Michelle Alexander says: “ you may have even black friend or relatives, does not mean you are free from unconscious bias (107).” I think that such words may say simply an individual who adheres to a bias toward racial disparity. Before accusing someone of discrimination, we must first pay

attention to ourselves.
Besides that, she argues that “Supreme Court has actually granted the police license to discriminate”(130), as well as an authority to stop and seize people everywhere. “ It is no longer necessary for the police to have any reason to believe that people are engaged in criminal activity or actually dangerous to stop and search them. As long as you give “consent”, the police can stop, interrogate, and search you for any reason at all.”(64). I do agree that recently, police exceed their authority. Unfortunately, police misconduct, police brutality, police corruption is not a novelty in our modern years. But here is a different situation. Michelle Aleksander stands against labeling based only on one “rotten apple”, however, at the same point she contradicts to herself by stating that police as a whole use discriminatory practice. Our common mistake is that we often equate all people to one, that might cause not only a racial disparity but and other forms of discrimination as well.
Here is the statement made by Alfred Edmond Jr. ,Senior Vice President/Chief Content Officer of Black Enterprise.”For every person who believes that the over-representation of Blacks in the prison system is proof of the bias inherent in that system (as I do), there is at least one other who believes that such disproportionate representation is proof positive that Black men are more prone to crime and violence—and worse, that most Black men are guilty until proven innocent”. Therefor, I believe that to dissemble any kind of problem is correct, but we should not get hung up on it, because it may lead to unpredictable consequences and may create a wrong bias. By emphasizing an accent on the fact that there is a huge black population behind the bars, (what Michelle Alexander have been made in the book), she is more aggravating the state of affairs, at the same time presenting an extra excuse to believe that a black person is more able to commit a crime that a white.
Futhermore, Michelle Alexander keeps an idea that “ in the system of mass incarceration, a wide variety of laws, institutions, and practices-ranging from racial profiling to biased sentencing policies, political disenfranchisement, and legalized employment discrimination-trap African Americans in a virtual (and literal) cage”(184).

This indicates that the current criminal justice system creates an invisible barrier for an African American for normal functioning in a social world. For me it is not really clear, how it is possible, since all laws are being made the same for everyone, that only a person with a dark skin subjected to this problem? Once again she gives a reason to believe that African Americans are more temptations to violate the law than anyone

else.
And finally, I would wish to state that the masked racism of mass incarceration is a huge phenomena that should concern everyone in this world,and the book “New Jim Crow” is a neat tool to render this problem. Despite some delusions, I really liked the way this book is structured, the language used, the facts have been provided. It allows the reader fully comprehend the significant argument which author tried to depict. Through this great book, I realized that all those unconscious biases, that we hold internally, shouldn’t constitute a negative impact on those who may be harmed by it, not only within the criminal justice system, but within entire society as well.