The New Jim Crow' By Michelle Alexander

In the article “ The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, highlights the racial dimensions of the War on Drugs. She argues that federal drug policy unfairly targets communities of color, keeping millions of young, black men in a cycle of poverty and behind bars. She claims that racism is not dead and the Jim Crow laws still exist only now in modern form. Although, Alexander may have some interesting facts, I do not agree with her completely. Communities of color, whether it be black or brown make themselves a target. After all, if someone partakes in a crime, shouldn’t he or she have to suffer the consequences?
In the days of the "Old Jim Crow" laws were created that enforced racial segregation in the South. Whites were separated from “persons

of color” in public transportation and schools—later the segregation principle was extended to parks, cemeteries, theatres, and restaurants in an effort to prevent any contact between blacks and whites as equals. “Young black men today may be just as likely to suffer discrimination in employment, housing, public benefits, and jury service as a black man in the Jim Crow era — discrimination that is perfectly legal, because it is based on one’s criminal record” (Alexander 740). Although, despite the similarities, In this era the answer lies with the individual rather than society.
Alexander states “We tell ourselves they “deserve” their fate, even though we know—and don’t know—that whites are just as likely to commit many crimes, especially drug crimes. We know that people released from prison face a lifetime of discrimination, scorn, and exclusion, and yet we claim not to know that an undercaste exists” (742). Granted, a person may be poor, and may not have the advantages of others, it is still their choice to involve themselves in dealing or using drugs or other criminal acts that incarcerates them. The way the community portrays themselves is why they are always targeted.