Summary Of The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander

In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: The Age of Colorblindness, she argues that the debate on the war on drugs unfairly targets those of color; typically young, black men. She states how many African Americans have been in prison due to drug convictions and now carry the title of a felon with them for life. Alexander recognizes that the war on drugs was a policy with an attempt to crack down on drugs in certain communities, however, she still believes these policies target minorities. She supports this with the “stop and frisk” policy, which grants the officers with the ability to search individuals on their own natural “suspicion.” It is most obvious that poor black men are more likely to be stopped over white individuals. Although these

A major reason for this is because although there may be more African Americans locked up over whites, it is not for reasons involving drug offenses. In objection to her analogies on the New Jim Crow, I think it is important to acknowledge the stigma that black communities carry with help of the mass media. This stigma could cause such individuals frustration and devastating effects on blacks. She is however persuasive when considering the birdcage example that blacks are trapped in a system of laws and

By simply ending the War on Drugs, I do not believe the existing problems of racial structures will be solved. Just as with anything else, education is the first step in reducing racial discrimination. Similarly situated blacks and whites are treated differently in regards to the system, however, those who are knowledgeable about this issue can raise awareness and have a better understanding of the social processes impacting African Americans. Strategies should also address discrimination on both the institutional and individual level. By doing so such racial inequality can be considered in the development of improving strategies rooted in the programs, beliefs, and stereotypes. While education and knowledge is an important key factor, influences on behavior and motivation can influence change as well. Altering one’s own behavior may require individual support of others. Effects of behavior should also include a basis of evaluation on outcomes of the learning