In this post: A dense yet necessary read. My review scratches the surface of the content of this book - read how our new social caste is the penal system via mass incarceration of primarily Black men.
Category: Black in America
Ramiah Recommended?
Yes! But just like Between the World and Me, read this book with pause.
Again, something I did not do.
There's a good chance you've heard of The New Jim Crow. And if so, you may have heard just HOW DENSE this book is. Actually, dense doesn't even do the book justice. This piece is seriously opaque. Concentrated. Impenetrable.
You get it.
I could write several reviews on this book alone.
A high-level for the uninitiated: Alexander explains mass incarceration against Black men in America. She points to its political origins and provides very real scenarios to demonstrate how Black men (specifically, not exclusively) are disenfranchised by this system, which is a solid force of societal fears toward Black men.
Each paragraph, let alone page, is filled with statistics, findings, and other research conclusions that -- if you're anything like me -- will leave your hand aching from all the highlights and annotations.
One of the most salient things learning from me while reading was that the War on Drugs. That was initiated by Ronald Reagan, that (like I noted in my review of Stamped From the Beginning) Bill Clinton accelerated the force and fear behind the War on Drugs, and that the War on Drugs was set in a time when nationwide drug use was on the decline. The DECLINE!
Not to mention that Black people were not the major users of narcotics and opioids yet were persecuted more heavily and often for those drugs.
Notwithstanding the density of this book, it should still be read by as many people as possible. In the book's introduction, Alexander writes that she wrote the book for two types of people: a) "people who care deeply about racial justice but who, for any number of reasons, do not yet appreciate the magnitude of the crisis faced by communities of color as a result of mass incarceration;" and b) "those who have been struggling to persuade their friends, neighbors, relatives, teachers, co-workers, or political representatives that something is eerily familiar about the way our criminal justice system operates, something that looks and feels a lot like an era we supposedly left behind, but have lacked the facts and data to back up their claims".
If you find yourself one of those two, pick it up. But don't forget to indulge in self-care alone the way.
It's not an easy read. Not only for its academic style but also for its subject matter. We are talking about a huge beast: the criminal justice system. And not only a huge beast, but in its best habitat: a country that pushes for the continued investment in such beast. The United States spends more on the penal system than any other western nation. "The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid" (pg 6). I will let that quote speak for itself.
Another thing I noticed from this book was the role of media in shaping public perceptions (are you getting a theme from Between the World and Me and How to Be An Antiracist?). The War on Drugs is the source of so many of the stereotypes of Black people that have persisted for decades and continue to persist today: welfare queens, deadbeat dads, crack babies... the list goes on.
Media gave life to those stereotypes and media continues to breathe life into them. And this has fueled our support into the penal system we have today.
Our understanding of racism is therefore shaped by the most extreme expressions of individual bigotry, not by the way in which it functions naturally, almost invisibly (and sometimes with genuinely benign intent), when it is embedded in the structure of a social system (pgs 178-179).
To read about how much effort, time, and money goes into building and maintaining this system, it's easy to become overwhelmed. To want to take a break. To want to walk away, even.
To reflect on our own complicity makes those temptations even stronger.
But reading this book is akin to confronting a fear: it's difficult, it's intimidating, but it's necessary for growth.
Looping in The Fire Next Time (which Alexander also quotes in her final chapter), the future is a distorted present without change. Knowing what the problem is will help us address it. Alexander promotes a multi-faceted solution in which our government, War on Drug attitude, civil rights organizations, and public opinion face reform to change our dependence and perpetuation of the penal system as a means of social control. Key to that is first acknowledging that we, as a society, support the system. From there, choosing acceptance, compassion, and justice.
I'll leave you with two quotes:
We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and concern to those who are locked up and locked out or headed for prison before they are old enough to vote (pg 206).
We should hope not for a colorblind society but instead for a world in which we can see each other fully, learn from each other, and do what we can to respond to each other with love (pg 231).
Ramiah Reflects
My New Favorite Life Quote:
"Every birdcage has a door, and every birdcage can be broken and can corrode." - Marilyn Frye
Questions to Ask Yourself (and answer!):
How does media influence thoughts of the criminal justice system? Have you experienced media that made you think positively or empathetically of those incarcerated?
On pages 96-97, Alexander writes: “Although the majority of illegal drug users and dealers nationwide are white, three-fourths of all people imprisoned for drug offenses have been black or Latino... it remains the case that African Americans are incarcerated at grossly disproportionate rates throughout the United States.” This statement mirrors the 2019 Census report of food assistance participation: the number of SNAP households who were headed by a white person was 75.8 percent in 2019, compared to 12.5 headed by a black person and 13.6 headed by a Hispanic person. Are you surprised by these statistics? What are similar stats you are aware of in which underrepresented communities are disproportionately overrepresented either in a) a system (as we see with the penal system) or b) the media surrounding a system (as we see with food assistance)?
What are your feelings on personal responsibility?
Food for Thought:
"This new generation of activists should not disrespect their elders or disparage their contributions or achievements; to the contrary, they should bow their heads in respect, for their forerunners have expended untold hours and made great sacrifices in an elusive quest for justice. But once respects have been paid, they should march right past them, emboldened, as King once said, by the fierce urgency of now." How may famed civil rights leaders react to the civil rights injustices of today? How may the actions we make now make them proud?
Ramiah's Re-read When
Re-read when:
You want to learn more about racial injustice in the penal system
You want facts to support your argument against mass incarceration
You want to reflect on the complicity of society in regards to the War on Drugs and the penal system
See below for my book notes:
Check out my other posts and book notes here.
Until next time!
Montana Houston
Comments