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1-Page Summary of The New Jim Crow
Overall Summary
The book begins with a foreword by Cornel West, who argues that the book will prove to be essential in the fight for racial justice. He also says that it embodies the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. The author then discusses how despite what is seen as progress on race relations under President Obama, there are still many problems in America today such as inequality and injustice. She encourages people to reject colorblindness and instead embrace fighting for justice. In the preface, Michelle Alexander notes that this is not a book “for everyone,” but hopes that it informs those who aren’t aware of mass incarceration yet or provides solace to those currently incarcerated.
Alexander compares a black man in jail to his ancestors who were enslaved and oppressed. She explains that ten years ago, she thought the claim of mass incarceration being a “new Jim Crow” was overstated, but after working at the ACLU she changed her mind. Mass incarceration is not just another system with racial biases; it is an inherently racist system like Jim Crow.
Although it might seem like a conspiracy theory to say that the War on Drugs is racist, there are certainly many conspiratorial aspects of its history. For example, the war started during a period in which drug crime was actually declining. Also, Alexander criticizes Barack Obama for not doing more about mass incarceration. According to Alexander, his election distracted people from the fact that “a human rights nightmare is taking place on our watch.”
In Chapter 1, Alexander explains that racism is adaptable and has changed throughout history to fit the times. When black people were brought to America as slaves, they were placed at the bottom of a racial caste system created by slavery. This was replaced by Jim Crow laws when slavery ended, which monitored, regulated, and suppressed black people in society. The civil rights movement tore down Jim Crow laws and it seemed inevitable that another racist system would emerge in its place; this took form through the War on Drugs under President Reagan’s administration in the 1980s. However, although this war gained much momentum during Reagan’s presidency (and further escalated by Bill Clinton), it survived beyond his term into modern times.
Chapter Two describes how the criminal justice system works. It discusses how someone can be arrested, charged and incarcerated for a drug offense. Alexander argues that many people are being unfairly targeted by police because of the War on Drugs. He says there are now very few checks and balances to make sure police officers aren’t abusing their power or violating civil rights laws. Meanwhile, federal government has made it possible for departments to get military-grade gear, deploy SWAT teams in drug raids and seize assets from those suspected of dealing drugs. The incentives created by these policies have led police departments across the country to focus primarily on drug crimes instead of other types of crime such as murder or robbery.
Chapter Three describes some common myths about race relations in America today: that everyone is equally racist; that racism only comes from individuals; that we live in a post-racial society where all bigotry is gone; etcetera, etcetera… These myths have been promulgated by liberal elites who want us to believe they’ve solved America’s racial problem—that we no longer need affirmative action programs like Affirmative Access (AA) because everything is fine now. But this isn’t true at all! In fact, AA has become even more necessary than ever before since liberals began dismantling social programs designed to help minorities during Bill Clinton’s presidency—for example welfare reform, which was based on the myth that poor blacks were lazy leeches living off hardworking whites.
