Reviews tagging 'War'

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (10th Anniversary Edition) by Michelle Alexander

4 reviews

aprilpie's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, and War

sarahrosea's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Police brutality, and Classism

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, and War

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

I'm glad I finally got to read this after having it on my shelf for so long. It's an important political touchstone for a reason. Well reasoned and well researched. It's amazing how the impact of this book has been felt in the last few years, to the point where this book almost seems not to go far enough, since discussions of abolition are more mainstream. Still, very foundational. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, Car accident, Colonisation, and War

incarceration, capital punishment

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

“The genius of the current caste system, and what most distinguishes it from its predecessors, is that it appears voluntary."

"As a criminal, you have scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a black man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow. We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

“African Americans are not significantly more likely to use or sell prohibited drugs than whites, but they are made criminals at drastically higher rates for precisely the same conduct.”

“Today’s lynching is a felony charge. Today’s lynching is incarceration. Today’s lynch mobs are professionals. They have a badge; they have a law degree. A felony is a modern way of saying, ‘I’m going to hang you up and burn you.’ Once you get that F, you’re on fire.”

“Seeing race is not the problem. Refusing to care for the people we see is the problem."

What a powerful book. Alexander presents a compelling argument for mass incarceration as the current vehicle of America's racial caste system. It was at the same time enlightening yet enraging to see how history continues to play out in much the same way. As a history teacher, I know I shouldn't be surprised but I always am. I can't decide if it makes me lose faith in humanity because we consistently find ways to oppress one another or gives me more hope because we also consistently fight against it. As I'm sure many reviewers have said, this book should be required reading. It takes a hard look at our criminal justice system and how it has become not much more than a form of social control since the 1960s. It would love to see this book updated in the near future. It's just over 10 years old now. It was published during the Obama administration and I am incredibly interested to learn what kinds of movements or progress has been made (or not made) since the original publication of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction