Mass Incarceration In The United States

Mass incarceration in the United States

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Introduction

The New Jim Crow provides a clear account of the reemergence of the caste-like system in the

United States criminal justice system. The text has highlighted how systemic discrimination in

the criminal justice system has resulted in the imprisonment of millions of African Americans.

The development has relegated the African American community to second –class status. The

action represents a reduction in the civil rights movement. The book, published in 2010, has

played a critical role in facilitating the rise of a new social movement, which seeks to address the

challenges facing the African American community. In the text, the United States and its people

is forced to confront the truth that it has been afraid to confront.

The text has disabused the American people of the perceived gains that they had achieved

through the election of President Barack Obama. The text has demonstrated that the

institutionalization of discrimination in the United States has presented an enduring threat to

racial equality. The African American prisoners have been denied access to basic civil and

human rights

. For instance, they have been denied the right to vote, participate in jury duty and

to avoid legal discrimination in access to employment opportunities. The criminal records of

many African Americans undermine their ability to access housing and education. In her view,

Michelle Alexander argues that the criminal justice system has been used to entrench the

discrimination of African Americans. The observation is captured in her observation that, “we

have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” The targeting of African

American men in the war on drugs has decimated minority communities in the United States.

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. (The New Press, 2012)179

The criminal justice system has effectively been reduced to a tool of racial control. The text has

challenged the modern civil rights movement to focus on the discrimination of African

Americans in the criminal justice system.

Mass incarceration is an effective instrument of racism because it undermines the ability of

people of color to achieve social-economic development at an early age. By arresting young

African Americans, the criminal justice system undermines their ability to access the

opportunities that they need to achieve their goals

. People with a criminal record have many

challenges in accessing opportunities for advancement in the country. Having a criminal record

can have a long-lasting impact on how an individual is perceived in the society.

In the last 40 years, the American society has experienced high levels of mass incarceration of

people of color. About 100 in every 100,000 people were imprisoned until 1970. After the 1970s,

the country witnessed a drastic increase in the population of inmates in its prison system.

Between the 1960’s and 2000, the United States experienced a 600 percent increase in the

population of inmates. The growth in the population of inmates was driven by the war on drugs

that was launched by President Nixon. The war has been embraced by other presidents who have

continued to target non-violent offenders and drug offenders. It has resulted in the development

of a penal system that has not been witnessed in the past.

In spite of the crime rate in the United States being lower than the international norm, the

incarceration rate in the country is six to ten times higher than that of other countries. The

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. (The New Press, 2012)22

punitive nature of the criminal justice system is motivated by how people respond to crime and

how others perceive those who have been arrested.

The law and order movement that started in the 1950’s has resulted in the development of a

systemic culture that results in an adverse effect on the way criminals are managed in the

country. The segregationist movement played a critical role in the promotion of a racially tainted

criminal justice system that undermines the ability of people of color to achieve their goals. The

fall of the old Jim Crow system led to the development of a more lethal system that has an

adverse effect on how people access criminal justice.

The collapse of the economy had a devastating impact on communities of color resulting in an

increase in the population of unemployed people. Michelle uses the intersectionality theory to

demonstrate how multiple factors combined to result in an increase in the incarceration of

Americans. The system that emerged resulted in the incarceration of millions of Americans in

African American communities. The declaration of the war on drugs provided an effective cover

for the backlash against the growing civil rights movement. Consequently, millions of Americans

found themselves in the criminal justice system. In spite of the spike in the crime rates of 1960’s

and 1970’s, the phenomenon does not provide an effective reason for the mass incarceration that

emerged. The incarceration of African Americans has continued to increase in spite of whether

there was a reduction in the crime rate in the society. The declaration of the war on drugs was

informed by the segregationist policies that have an adverse effect on how minority communities

in the society were treated.

The war on drugs provided an opportunity for the government to increase funding for people of

color and to provide opportunities for the development of the society. The harsh response of the

government to the drug epidemic is a clear illustration of how the people of color are treated and

cared for. The campaign targeted people of color who had been defined by the media as

criminals. The militarization of law enforcement led to the development of racism as individual

officers used their positions of authority to discriminate against African Americans.

The social-cultural shift towards the institutionalization of segregation led to a competition

between Republicans and Democrats to demonstrate who could be the toughest on crime. Bill

Clinton, the Democratic President, sought to demonstrate that his party could be more effective

in the war on drugs. The Clinton administration passed a law that prevented students who had a

history of drug crimes from accessing federal funding for college. It also passed a law that

prevented the people from accessing housing if they have a criminal record. The Clinton

administration also championed laws that prevented people with a criminal record from

accessing food stamps. In their desperation to prove that they could be as effective in leading the

war on crime, the Democrats were complicit in encouraging the development of laws that had a

negative impact on the penal system.

The text has demonstrated how the Bush Administration contributed towards the

institutionalization of systemic racism. The government increased federal funding to programs

that were designed to entrench discrimination in the society. It also supported sweeps of

communities where people of color lived. The problem, in her view, is that the war on drugs and

crime has targeted communities through racial and class lines.

Michelle succeeds in highlighting the impact of underlying social-cultural stereotypes on how

communities of color are treated in the United States. She demonstrates that President Nixon

conceptualized the criminal justice system that would undermine the social-economic

development of the African American community. President Richard Nixon played a critical role

in entrenching the systemic racism in the criminal justice system. President Clinton escalated the

institutionalization of racism in the country. Sadly, even President Obama was forced to continue

with the same policing policies that have continued towards the marginalization of African

Americans in the country.

The weakest aspect of the text is that it fails to provide adequate solutions. The modern Jim

Crow system is an accepted fact that many people recognize. The rise of the Black Lives Matter

movement is a demonstration of the increased recognition among the African American

community that the system is flawed. The ability of the society to overcome this problem

requires a more clear and effective approach. As a result, it is important for Michelle to

demonstrate the course of action that would lead towards the achievement of desirable outcomes.

It is imperative for the society to demonstrate recognition of the challenges that the community

faces and the role that effective intervention measures will have on enabling them to achieve

desirable outcomes.

In spite of the limitation of the text, it is evident that Michelle succeeds in noting that most

Americans do not understand the nature of the problem and the threat it poses to the well-being

of the people. Presently, about 2.3 million people are living in prison in the United States. As a

result, their families are being deprived of a loved member and opportunities to contribute

towards the achievement of positive outcomes. In addition, more than 7 million people are being

held in correctional control. The institutionalization of discrimination in the American criminal

justice system may have an adverse effect on the ability of the United States to move past its

racial history.

Michelle has demonstrated the impact of the criminal justice laws that have resulted in about 65

million people having criminal records that expose them to legalized discrimination for the rest

of their lives. She highlights the psychological impact of a country that fails to provide adequate

protections for their people. In addition, it also highlights the emotional impact that is caused by

their experiences. The African American community has experienced grief and suffering that has

caused them to suffer from the state of their country. She notes that the location of prisons away

from communities makes it easy for the society to forget about the issue in spite of the impact

that it can have on the ability of vulnerable members of the society to achieve social-economic

growth.

The book is an effective call to action for the American society. Michelle has demonstrated that

every person in the criminal justice system has a responsibility to address the systemic

challenges that have continued to affect the society. The information provided by the

organization has provided a clear illustration of the precarious state of the African American

community if effective intervention measures are not adopted to tackle the problem.

To sum up, Michelle has provided an effective illustration of the development of new Jim Crow

attitudes in the American criminal justice system. The strength of the book is that it succeeds in

demonstrating that the marginalization of the African American community is a cross party issue

that is driven by the social-cultural attitudes. The political class are merely following the lead of

the public when they implement and sustain systemic marginalization of the African American

community in the United States.

Bibliography

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. The New Press. 2012.

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