Michelle Alexander and The New Jim Crow

Consider the following elements of the argument Michelle Alexander presents in the book’s introduction:

“Once you’re labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination–employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service–are suddenly legal. As a criminal, you have scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a black man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow. We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it” (p. 2).

“Through a web of laws, regulations, and informal rules, all of which are powerfully reinforced by social stigma, [people who have been incarcerated] are confined to the margins of mainstream society and denied access to the mainstream economy. They are legally denied the ability to obtain employment, housing, and public benefits–much as African Americans were once forced into a segregated, second-class citizenship in the Jim Crow era” (p. 4).

“These stark racial disparities cannot be explained by rates of drug crime. Studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates” (p. 7).

“Michael Tonry explains in Thinking about Crime: ‘Governments decide how much punishment they want, and these decisions are in no simple way related to crime rates.’ This fact, he points out, can be seen most clearly by putting crime and punishment in comparative perspective. Although crime rates in the United States have not been markedly higher than those of other Western countries, the rate of incarceration has soared in the United States while it has remained stable or declined in other countries” (p. 7).

“The stark and sobering reality is that, for reasons largely unrelated to actual crime trends, the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history. And while the size of the system alone might suggest that it would touch the lives of most Americans, the primary targets of its control can be defined largely by race” (p. 8).

Consider one or more of the following questions, and elaborate:

Is Alexander’s argument new to you? Do your personal life experiences inform the way you view her argument? Do you feel that you need to know more about the subject? Are you inclined to see the possible validity of her argument? Are you skeptical? Do her assertions cause you concern about our society?