Summary Of New Jim Crow

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I want to start this off by saying that this book completely opened my eyes and changed my views on a lot of different topics. The way that the news and media is able to point everyone in the wrong direction is crazy and should definitely be dealt with. And the fact that just myself, an average American citizen, wasn’t aware of some of the simplest hardships that minorities face today speaks volumes about how much of The United States in general has absolutely no idea about what’s happening right under their own noses. The “racism is dead” argument no longer has much weight in my personal views of our country as it did before. I myself may not have anything against minorities, and most people these days, especially millennials, don’t either. …show more content…

In short, it highlights the racial dimensions of the War on Drugs and argues about the main reasons why so many black men are being wrongfully held behind bars. It also examines the rights that are taken away from them and how the government is stopping them from becoming normal members of society on the inside and outside. Convicted felons cannot vote for life, and wrongfully convicted felons cannot vote for life. As a result of their criminality, they are legally discriminated against in their ability to obtain housing, employment, education, and public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps. Rather than combat drug activity, the War on Drugs has served as a deliberate strategy to control people of color and remove them from the political process, which is racist in both application and …show more content…

Through a sly oppression, what we have fought so long for, even basic rights, will continue to go on unless something very drastic happens to change it. Alexander gave some ways to help dismantle this terrible caste system and I completely agree with her. For one, marijuana needs to be legalized. “The Drug War is the New Jim Crow” is a very accurate representation of current black social issues. 84% of those who are arrested are for possession charges. If marijuana and small drug charges in general were dropped, than our prisons would no longer be literally overflowing, and it would release many, many black men who are more or less, wrongfully imprisoned. Another way would be to stop government funding for cops so they don’t get more money to racially profile people. And as much as this here could be argued, it is the painful truth of our current

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