Reading the first 60 pages of The New Jim Crow, and reflecting on class today, I've finally set aside enough time to actually do my blog post.
Firstly, I am excited to see what other people bring to the table with their own posts and comments. Although I tend to sit back and listen, I find it very fascinating on what people think and share to be debated.
When the topic if white privilege was presented, it soon became a topic that was difficult to fully define because of the vast array of thoughts that we had. Although race is generally a very taboo subject to discuss in a classroom setting, it gives the controversial topic an opportunity to be seen by many views points because of the wide range of stances regarding questions surrounding race.
Questioning what white privilege is made me think not only what I had, but what I didn't have. This being treatment that I may or may not have experienced. The question of white privilege was soon strung to a new category of privilege, which would be economic privilege. Some may think these come hand in hand, while others may think they are barely related. The BuzzFeed video shown today in class displayed people and their social discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender, economic status, ect. helped bring up what discrimination we faced, which made for an uncomfortable yet incumbent discussion. Given the opportunity to read books on these topics with other peers with the intent to reflect on thoughts, comments, and concerns gives the comfort of being able to compare ideas to see how you relate and even disagree with the author and points brought up by classmates. It will even hopefully make these topics less of a treacherous subject to touch on with peers.
Early into the book, I found an abundance of charged language which made me reflect on why these words held so much value. Obviously sooner or later in the book we would come to see why it was titled The New Jim Crow. I found this to be very early on,
'I was rushing to catch the bus, and I noticed a sign stapled to the telephone pole that screamed in large bold print: THE DRUG WAR IS THE NEW JIM CROW (alexander 3)'.
Right after reading this quote, I questioned why the author would compare something so drastic as the Jim Crow Laws to the drug war. Reading on, I came to the larger realization that the comparison was between the Jim Crow Laws and effects of mass incarceration. By throwing around the term 'colorblind' when talking about political, social, and judicial issues, it is easy to look past that this may not always be the case. The racial caste system is also something that is referred to a lot when reading this book. Although only the first chapter in, I already am aware that the author wants me to keep the racial caste system in my mind when reading. She touches on the history of race, as well as the birth of slavery. Making a comment that race is a relatively recent development, she explains that race is just something to categorize people to make poor treatment of other groups justified. The biggest thing I feel as though she is getting at is the fact that the racism in the government and judicial system makes it harder for people of color to receive the same treatment. The Jim Crow laws before she had explained her reasoning seemed much more far fetched than after she got to her point. Taking about the birth and death of slavery, as well as the 'start' of racism helped her develop her point as to why she is describing the racial caste system and law enforcement to be more like the Jim Crow laws than the help that they are there for.
She explains that there are laws in place to keep people of color down, and make sure they stick in their caste. Developing more on why the new law system is racist, I am excited to read more into what she has to offer to further promote her ideas.
Overall I feel as though she explains her ideas thoroughly and defends what she says with evidence as well as opinion/experience. I find this book not only interesting but eye opening into a viewpoint I would not be able to fully understand without reading. It is interesting to see what I do not experience as much, which again brings up the point that white privilege may be to blame. Taking into account that the racial caste system as well as white privilege can arguably go hand in hand, this book helps give reasons as to why that is.
So far her focus was more on the explanation of race, the development of slavery, and laws put in place to keep discrimination among us even though we are not aware of it.
Works Cited:
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York : [Jackson, Tenn.] :New Press ; Distributed by Perseus Distribution, 2010.
Meggie, your thoughts on The New Jim Crow are already so well-developed despite only reading one chapter, which I applaud. The subject of your book is something that I have not given a lot of thought towards until now, and I am very interested by it.
ReplyDeleteMy main question regarding the treatment of different races within the court is, is the American judicial system really making decisions based on race, or is there a simply correlation between the crimes that black people are committing versus white? For example, when discussing this topic with Nick Miller, we analyzed a situation in which a black person was imprisoned for the possession/use/distribution of crack cocaine, and a white person received a far lesser sentence for the possession/use/distribution of powdered cocaine. While some may accuse the court of prosecuting based on race, and therefore awarding a much greater sentence to the black person, we need to be aware of the differences. While both criminals were imprisoned for issues surrounding cocaine, the two substances (crack and powder) are in fact different, and therefore there should be a natural difference in sentencing. What are your thoughts? Do you stand with the author's view that our justice system is racist?
Meggie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your link of the topic of the book to the class discussion, but try to include more of the details from the book in your discussion, both because the assignment is focused on your reading of the book, and because it will help those who aren't reading the book.
What laws are discussed that show they are intentionally trying to keep down people of certain races?
I really liked your blog post because I have been interested in racial discrimination in the American justice system and the industrial prison complex. The issue of mass incarceration of black people and unjust sentences are a prevalent issue in America's justice system. According to the NAACP, blacks make up 12.5% of illegal drug users but make up a third of the population of people imprisoned for drug crimes (https://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/). Drug policing and convictions are known to target black people. Regardless of the specific substance, black people are still targeted. I think it's a really interesting viewpoint to compare how these laws and the corruption in the justice system are similar to the famous Jim Crow laws of post-Civil War America.
ReplyDeleteI also liked that you included discussion of white privilege in your post. I think this is something we are all struggling with and learning about through this class. Like you wrote, it is a difficult and important discussion.