Michelle Alexander The New Jim Crow Summary

In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, she states “the enemy is racially defined” (64). As of today, African Americans have been massively incarcerated and most would point to the correlation of crime rates. However, Alexander makes the argument that part of this explanation is built upon “dominant racial narratives about crime and criminality dating back to slavery” (64). This follows a long narrative in which a majority group - whites though that does not mean every single person- during the earlier years of the United States established themselves as the top of a hierarchy built to keep not just African Americans but all minority groups below them. Each of these people have faced similar racialization over the decades since and on going

as with the idea that some are more prone than others to things such as crime. This is seen in the belief that it is in either the nature or “values” which has lead to the mass incarceration of mostly male African Americans within the prison system rather than simply being crime rate. However, it was the War on Drugs and it’s continued effects that has lead to mass incarceration of African Americans being reflective of how it has affected people under historically built systemic racialization.
To call this systemic, one must understand that in this “system”, according to Allan Johnson, there is no individual, there are many parts to it and such is that there are shared understandings, a belief system, and is connected to the relationships that connect people, a social system, in which every individual participates (26-28). The understandings or ideologies influence our behaviour and so the actions we make - consciously or unconscious - usually toward what is called the “paths of least resistance” meaning actions that risk provoking the least social backlash. In socialization, we build our own sense of identity and relation to others, which leads to racialization, gender formation, and class formation. These are built on many decades of history as with what led to the War on Drugs and the mass incarceration of African Americans.
So the War on Drugs did not simply begin around the the 1970s, its beginnings go further back in U.S. history. In the 1880s to 1920s, Chinese immigrants were racialized and associated with opium (Gagnon, 1/27/17). While in the early 20th century, Mexican-American immigrants were racialized and associated with marijuana (Gagnon, 1/27/17). Similarly, African-Americans became another target built upon already system racial formations and becoming associated with cocaine in the early 20th century (Gagnon, 1/27/17). As these historical racial formations are ingrained in today’s society, African-Americans have become viewed as those likely to commit crimes and part of the problem that perpetuates the drug trade as well as the war against it.
Today, part of the perpetuation of the war on drugs ideology is in how there is racial disparity between drugs and “race”.

Alexander presents that though the number for those admitted to prison under drug offenses has increased regardless of race, African Americans were admitted at the highest rate during 2000 with other minority groups behind (64). While on another hand, “government data revealed that black youths were no more likely to be guilty of drug crimes than whites and that white youth were actually the most likely of any racial or ethnic group to be guilty of illegal drug possession and sales” yet do not go to prison (65). A false notion is given for drug use among African Americans which was exaggerated by the media, yet leaving the crucial information that pertains to white communities are more limited to the

public.
There is a clear contradiction under the 13th amendment, in which guarantees “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime” (59) allows for a prison industrial complex which utilizes the prisoners as a means of cheap labor and under interpretation should not allow for such as the perpetuation of the system leads to those imprisoned staying in this workforce. This contradiction is only furthered by the 14th amendment which is suppose to guarantee equal protection under the law (73), yet the disparity between the incarceration of African Americans and whites, even though more whites use and sell drugs, shows otherwise.
When not left in the workforce, the lives of those before conviction have already been taken away upon release, which is similar to those under Jim Crow laws.

During the era after Reconstruction (1865-1877) African-Americans were faced with anti-black laws that basically stripped them of rights and segregated them from whites. African-Americans could not serve on juries; obtain equal or fair housing; gain acceptance to colleges and universities; gain access to well-paying jobs; and challenge police brutality in courts. Today, African-Americans face a problem not too different under the war on drugs that led to their mass incarceration. Under the label of having been convicted of a felony, African-Americans face the same restrictions dealt when Jim Crow was enacted. As with the “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act”, those incarcerated would not be protected for discrimination in employment as it would not be categorized under race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (39). One could say this is the “new” Jim Crow and just like the “old” strips away a person’s ability to live in “normal”

society.
Back to those left in the industrial prison complex, it shows how economics has long played a role within America’s history, given how it has affected the country's development. The country was built on the back of others for the benefit of others under a hierarchical system that pitted the minority against one another, so that a “majority” would benefit. The ancestors of African Americans were brought to the United States as slaves as such cheap labor which has to relate to the idea that people - whites of the time- believed that African Americans were inferior. Such an idea is related to the idea of how people today view the African American community as violent and criminals were it is fine for them to be incarcerated for the actions. This however only reflects how we have created racializations within a system built on our history that has only evolved over time and has become more subtle.
For such a complex problem, there is no simple solution. This is an overall part of a system that is of built of many parts and not just one changing element will end it all; everything is connected in some way or another. Even from the combination that is presented here there will be problems or backlash of some sort but making such changes is important to actually moving on and bettering our society as a whole. As this country is built upon the belief of human rights such should be truly respected and protected for all people. Our views on drug offenses must change as incarcerating people for such small offenses has lead to a perpetuation rather than helping these people; so strengthening programs that help with rehabilitation into society would also be productive. While at the same time, we must re-evaluate our criminal justice system and make changes and keep doing so over time. Yet, there is always more to look over as with the financial incentives of the current system or other possibilities were current policies must be completely overhauled. Though even then changes do not happen immediately, it will be a reflection of actions taken in time and as with these for the better.