Throughout the history of America, the African American community as a whole has been looked down upon and their rights have been minimized by groups of white supremacists. Indeed, slavery has been abolished and we are living in a world where minorities are “accepted”. However, there is still a lingering sense of hatred and entitlement from whites towards African Americans and other minorities in our country. These groups of white supremacists make sure that the African American community suffers. They employ strict laws that specifically target certain communities. Perhaps, they do this intentionally because they fear they will be overthrown by these minorities; they would to see their ‘inferiors’ rise above them. One of the many ways the …show more content…
The War on Drugs was purely political. Before the ‘war’ was implemented, illegal drug use was not a prominent issue in society, it was actually declining. The police force just enforced federal orders. Alexander wrote, “ Huge cash grants were made to those law enforcement agencies that were willing to make drug-law enforcement a top priority.” Here, Alexander pinpoints exactly why the police force took part in the War on Drugs.Alexander also writes, “Every system of control depends for its survival on the tangible and intangible benefits that are provided to those who are responsible for the system's maintenance and administration. This system is no exception.” The people in control of the system reap the most benefits. Alexander displays the corrupt power structure present in the government. She says our system of government is not an exception to this notion. Alexander uses the phrase “tangible and intangible benefits”, demonstrating that these people in control receive more than the common …show more content…
After the Black Lives Matter movement began, the All Lives Matter ‘movement’ was created. The people who created the All Lives Matter were offended. Yet, nobody said ONLY black lives matter. The African American community was simply pointing out the fact that black lives DO matter. In The War on Cops, Mac Donald writes, “The Black Lives Matter narrative about racist law enforcement occurred in a vacuum; carefully excluded was any acknowledgment of inner-city crime and social breakdown. It was as if officers arbitrarily deployed more heavily in certain neighborhoods out of sheer desire to oppress. In reality, the police were in those areas because… a culture of drive-by shootings and gang warfare persisted, largely due to the breakdown of the black family.” Here, Mac Donald mocks the notion that the police force targets specific areas due to its demographics. However, she also marginalizes African Americans by employing the stereotype that African American communities are filled with crime. It is implied that all black communities are overrun by gangs, drugs, and guns. This in itself is an unfair conclusion to make. Alexander employs the word “culture”, as if to say the African American identity is defined by
“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”
Chapter 1 of “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, that is also a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, wrote this chapter to inform us the history of racism in America, and if African Americans really treated equally. When the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, many whites were scared that the slaves are now free because they might want revenge, so the whites made a stereo type that all black men are criminals. When the Reconstruction ended, the south had a redemption. The convicts had no legal rights, so they became the “slaves” to help rebuild after the civil war. Then the prison population of blacks rose so the whites can use them as free labor.
Civil rights lawyer, advocate, and associate professor of law at Ohio State University, Michelle Alexander, introduce us the term "The New Jim Crow" and the impact it has on the black community. Taking into consideration the arguments in the lecture, we will be discussing themes such as gun violence, the war on drugs and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander describes the social and economic factors that affect gun violence in the United States as a debate that pays little attention to the reasons why some communities are more susceptible to be what she calls "war zones". She argues that it is not the numbers of guns that deliberate the degree of safety of the neighborhood, but the number of good schools, jobs, and opportunities
It is an existing theory that our society is constructed via racial dimensions, and that racial equality is a figment of the imagination. This very principle is highlighted in Michelle Alexander’s novel, “The New Jim Crow.” The specific dimensions covered within the text include the unjust aspects of the federal drug policy, and by connection that of mass incarceration as well. Alexander claims that racism is still very prominent in present day society and is direct and frank about the heavy influence of white supremacy. One of the main arguments pushed by Alexander in this book is that mass incarceration is “ a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar
The politics of responsibility hold each person responsible for his or her actions and choices; and therefore they have to accept the results of their actions. It means that people have duties and responsibilities towards themselves and others, and that they have to make the right choices and do the right actions in order to have a better life. However, Michelle Alexander disagrees with this strategy in her critique “The New Jim Crow,” arguing that the strategy of responsibility would fail to address the issue of mass incarceration. She argues that the politics of responsibility is insufficient because it cannot just blame people on their own actions and choices without considering their circumstances and the society they are living in, which could sometimes force them to behave in a certain way. She insists that
“More African Americans are under the control of the criminal justice system today – in prison or jail, on probation or parole – than were enslaved in 1850.” For this reason I decided to write my essay reflecting the documentary of Slavery By Another Name. Even though the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, it had an exception. Slavery was still legal as a form of punishment for a crime. With the abolishment of slavery many jobs were left unfilled.
Race is one the most sensitive and controversial topics of our time. As kids, we were taught that racism has gotten better as times has passed. However, the author, Michelle Alexander, of The New Jim Crow proposes the argument that racism has not gotten better, but the form of racism that we known in textbooks is not the racism we experience today. Michelle Alexander has countless amounts of plausible arguments, but she has failed to be a credible author, since she doesn’t give enough citations or evidence for her argument to convince people who may not have prior agreement with her agreement.. Alexander’s biggest mistake when it came to being a credible author was starting off the book with a countless number of claims without any evidence in her Introduction.
The most common misconception is that the Black Lives Matter movement is an attack on the police. Black Lives Matter was created in 2012 after the death of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon was not gunned down by an official of the Law. His killer was a white civilian who was acquitted of murder. Trayvon had not committed a crime on the day he was executed, yet his killer remained a free man.
In the eyes of Martin Luther King Jr., Justice within a society is achieved through the implementation of just laws. Furthermore, “just laws are regulations that have been created by man that follow the laws of God for man” (“Clergymen’s Letter”). Any law that does not correspond with the ideals of God and morality are considered to be unjust or a form of injustice. King identifies that injustice is clearly evident within the justice system. This injustice can truly be seen through the misconduct imposed toward the African American community.
In The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in The Era of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, she begins by points out the underlying problem in our Criminal Justice system. The problem being prioritizing the control of those in this racial caste rather than focusing on reasonable punishment and efforts to deter crime. Alexander begins by speaking of her experience as a civil rights lawyer and what soon became her priority after seeing a poster that mentioned how the war on drugs is the new jim crow when it comes to the application and outcome of it. As Alexander points out the correlation between the war on drugs and it being the new jim crow, she discusses the mass incarceration that is prevalent in our society and the number of African American
When we say that Black Lives matter, it doesn’t mean that black people lives are more important than other people’s lives. Black lives matter just as much as other lives, but black lives are more in danger when it comes to police interaction. During this year and previous years, there has been numerous incidents of police assaulting or killing black men, women, and even teenagers. Some people say that “All Lives Matter”, which is true because life is a precious thing. But when it comes to interacting with police officers, “Black Lives Matter”, black lives are in danger during interaction with the police because society treats black people different from other races.
According to “The Washington Post”, Last year 963 African Americans were shot and killed by police. Ever since the 1960s Africans has been fighting for equality; in the Eric Garner case and Michael Brown, it demonstrated how White police officers abuse and misuse their power towards African Americans. Since the increase of police brutality communities has had marches, rallies, and even the Black Lives Matters movements as a response to show that Polices’ abuse of power is unacceptable. The Black Lives Matter movement was created after radical discrimination it is a political movement to inform and protect Black Lives. (Wesley Lowery.
Questions still arise today about the disproportionately high numbers of people of African descent killed, beaten, and arrested by police in major urban cities of America. Since the mid-1900s the words law enforcement and policing have been used interchangeably. In order to understand the present, one must understand the past relationships between law-enforcement and African-Americans. The Webster’s Unabridged Deluxe defines black as of the darkest color; opposite of white ; a Negro; dirty; evil; wicked; without hope. This definition alone associates African-Americans with the stigma of being criminal and no good.
An occurrence observed by the population of Los Angeles, California conveys the existence of racism and police brutality. According to The Polls-Trends: Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward the Police, “…three quarters of blacks, but only 38 percent of whites, continued to view police brutality as a common occurrence” (Tuch and Weitzer
Some may not be too familiar with the war on drugs and the effects it has had on the society we live in. The war on drugs was started by the Nixon administration in the early seventies. Nixon deemed drug abuse “public enemy number one”. This was the commencement of the war on drugs, this war has lasted to this day and has been a failure. On average 26 million people use opioids.