Mass Incarceration Rhetorical Analysis

Mass Incarceration the New Jim Crow
Written by Patricia Kelly in January 1, 2015, “Mass Incarceration” is an article from Public Health Nursing journal which argues that mass incarceration in the United States, as a result of the “War on Drugs” has greatly impacted the lives of people of color. Additionally, Robert DeFina and Lance Hannon; professors at Villanova University, who are actively engaged in matters pertaining to criminal and social justice, vindicate racial control in the article, “Impact of mass incarceration on poverty” that was recorded in Sage journals. For the most part, these two sources use a combination of the rhetorical strategies; logos, ethos and pathos to argue that “War on Drugs” hopped up on federal funds and confisticated

property, is a systemic way of colonizing people of color and exploiting African American neighborhoods.
Mass incarceration in the United States, has been identified as a comprehensive and well-disguised system of racializing social control among people of color analogous to Jim Crow. Highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate and legal scholar, Michelle Alexander, in her book, The New Jim Crow, describes how mass incarceration has turned people of color into permanent second class citizens. Alexander aims at incisively critiquing the racial caste in America that has majority of young black men in major cities locked behind bars or even labelled as felons (Michelle 3). In order to convey to her readers the idea that our criminal justice system is built and thriving off racial oppression, she notes the number of African American men that are currently under the control of criminal-justice system because they were in possession of marijuana. Michelle says the one thing that has changed since the collapse of Jim has less to do with the structure of our society than the language we use to justify inequality (4). In this era of colorblindness, we see it as socially permissible to use the criminal-justice system to associate criminality with people of color. Millions of African Americans who are subject to control mass incarceration, have a hard time getting back and being productive members of society. Employment discrimination, housing inequities, ineligibility for food stamps and denial of the right to vote are just but a few essential rights stripped off these men. Enacted disenfranchised laws has not only excluded Ex- offenders from accessing facilities that better their lives but also, it has led to an influx number of families going through the vicious poverty cycle.
In both the “Mass Incarceration” and “Impact of mass incarceration on poverty” articles, the authors use a variety of credible sources with ties to racial cast in a bid to exacerbate the effects of imprisonment on men of color in the 21st century. Almost immediately, DeFina and Hannon, portray the significance of the subject matter by mentioning the increased numbers of incarcerated persons. The heightened rate of 342% between 1975 and the end of 2005, left the US ranked the highest in imprisonment worldwide (563). They paint a picture of hopelessness stemming from the conscious decisions made by politicians that has affected the economy of the country. Continuing with their claim, they mention how our entire legal structure; courts, parole and probation, has turned transgressors into a moral outlaw not worthy of second chances or rehabilitation. Similarly, Kelly as a concerned citizen, offers the bittersweet analysis of our prison system as a form of social control. In a bid to draw her audience to listen to the argument, she notes the function of “War on Drugs” as one of many ways current US has managed to control the minorities in our society. By drawing inferences to statistics of incarcerated men, Kelly denigrates the jurisdiction of federal, state and local criminal justice system and shows how it’s designed to exploit minorities. Both authors join in this time of mourning where we have majority of our working class men; who would have otherwise contributed to the building of the economy, behind bars. Through picking up on audience’s everyday liberal guilt, the authors show that colorblindness is anything but benign in today’s society.
While Kelly discerns ties to racial profiling of minorities by the police through mentioning couple of unaddressed deaths of African American men; Michael Brown in ferguson and Eric Garner in Staten Island, whose demise indicated a distressing regularity of unfair and unjust action towards minorities (1), DeFina and Hannon explore the impeded progress on our country's economy as a result of mass incarceration (563).

By carrying out various studies exhibiting the correlation between poverty and incarceration of African American men, the skyrocketing headcount poverty rate within the minority neighbourhoods shows that racial delineation in the US. Granting both the authors wish to call out the prejudiced judicial system, the language used by Kelly depicts indignation better than DeFina and Hannon. Her references to sensitive cases like Garner and Brown, brings out an outpouring of emotions and a cry for criminal justice system

reformation.
In order to continue convincing her audience and building her credibility, Kelly discusses the effects of incarceration of women, a dimension uncharted by DeFina and Hannon.

She begins by acknowledging the increased numbers of women in prison, “ Women’s incarceration rates have increased nearly twice the rate of men” (1). With a rise in the numbers of women in prison, it is not only the state of the economy that is at risk but also the emotional and the physical state of their families. Kelly taps into the emotions of her audience by inculpating the effect of disrupting the state of a family by incarcerating its breadwinners. She also mentions that almost 2 million children in the United States have a parent in jail or in prison (1). The torn relationships between children and their families brings about adverse effects and traumatic episodes that make it hard for them to fit in the society. By showing the elevated risks of separating families, she conveys an urgent tone that calls people to exercise justice to minimise the suffering of the children. DeFina and Hannon juxtaposes Kelly’s article by mentioning the effects of incarceration on the community around as well as the stigma associated with an incarcerated record. They appeal to the iniquity of the criminal justice system by admitting that mass incarceration has created an intensely disadvantaged segment of low-wage workers (565) which has made it hard for the ex-offenders to get a job and establish themselves in the

society. By providing this argument, their credibility is able to benefit as they
In conclusion, both DeFina, Hannon and Kelly take their privileged audiences down a malfeasant trip as they demonstrate how our criminal justice system is founded on oppression. By drawing powerful arguments and supporting the information with statistics and data, these authors were able to deduce a convincing exposition that calls people into action. By analysing a relatively objective source and two different informative perspectives regarding mass incarceration in the US, I learnt that as a country despite having made significant strides in trying to eliminate racial disparities, we still have a long way to go compared to other developed countries.