THE NEW JIM CROW
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1
By
Dr. Awa
In Chapter 1, Alexander provides a brief history of race and racism in America. For those readers less familiar with the narrative of American history, this tour through slavery, Bacon’s Rebellion, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Populism, the end of Jim Crow through Board, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is very instructive. Even if this narrative sounds familiar though, what comes next is probably less so. The backlash to the Civil Rights Movement manifested itself in the Southern Strategy and the first construction of stereotypes such as lazy “welfare cheats” and “black criminals”. “Law and order” rhetoric became a popular way to stoke hostility towards blacks; it was carried out by conservatives to win votes among poor whites.
This was very successful especially during Reagan’s campaigns as he “echoed white frustration in race-neutral terms through implicit racial appeals” (48) that also contained plausible deniability. He focused on targeting crime and expanded the budgets of law enforcement agencies. Along with this, the administration conducted a media juggernaut to sensationalize the crack epidemic that was putatively sweeping black neighborhoods. Due to technological changes and economic collapse, it is true that many poor blacks turned to selling drugs to make ends meet, but instead of reacting to this with nuance and compassion, Reagan used this to gain political capital and pass harsh and punitive anti-drug legislation. Although actual drug usage was not up, the illegal campaign successfully convinced Americans of this. Clinton’s welfare policies and three-strikes policy further contributed to the decimation of black communities. Thus, the New Jim Crow was born – African Americans were unfairly targeted by law enforcement on the behalf of a federal government interested in stoking racial flames in order to win elections.
Why the comparison of mass incarceration to Jim Crow? As Alexander explains it, this is a new racial system along the same lines as slavery and Jim Crow. It is invisible but entrenched. It is ostensibly colorblind but obviously based on denigrating black Americans. It is a form of legal discrimination, buffeted by the public’s indifference and willful ignorance. It’s not a perfect comparison, she writes, but the two are very, very similar. She will delve into the particulars, both similarities and differences, in later chapters, but for now it is important to keep the comparison in mind as an effective means of understanding the depth and breadth to which African Americans are affected by mass incarceration.
Respond to the following questions:
- What is your take on the position presented in chapter 1 of the book?
- In your opinion was the war on drugs an attempt to incarceration members of a particular race in mass number?
- How does the justice system make it difficult for those convicted of drug-related offenses to reintegrate into the society?
- Check the box practice: do you think this is a form of continuous punishment even after serving time?
- In your opinion what are the challenges to reentry? What is the way forward?
Sample Solution
