Reviews with content warning for Racism - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (10th Anniversary Edition)

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

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

50 reviews

ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

This was an informative audiobook jam packed with important historical information that is meticulously cited. There was so much work and effort that Michelle Alexander put into this and you can feel it both through her narration of the book and th work itself. Alexander walks through all the various ways in which the prison industrial complex is just one of many remnants of slavery that continue to affect us today.

The language used in the book is reasonably simple and straighforward, but this is still a very dense reading experience. The author intermittently resummarizes and draws connections from one chapter to another. For example, at some point there is deep dive into the War on Drugs and Reagan administration that is then linked to overpolicing of black/brown communities as well as the current disproportionate mass incarceration of black individuals. Alexander expands upon the reasons why racism is baked into our justice system. It really seems that the only way to fix it is to build it from the ground up. This book is an educational experience that makes you strongly consider the current state of affairs as they are. It merits a reread just because there is so much information to unpack here. I do strongly recommend this for anyone that is interested in the history of racial bias within our justice system and the after effects today. Even if this is a topic you are already familiar with, this still stands as an excellent resource.

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antijeffbozo_love2read's review against another edition

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adventurous informative tense medium-paced

4.75

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isabel_is_reading's review against another edition

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dark informative medium-paced

4.75

"In the era of colorblindness, it is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. So we don't. Rather than rely on race, we use our criminal justice system to label people of color 'criminals' and then engage in all the practices we supposedly left behind. Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination-employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service-are suddenly legal. 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."

This quote perfectly encapsulates the author’s central argument, and she presents it with exceptional clarity. She draws on history, statistics, and the legal system to illustrate how the prison-industrial complex and the broader criminal justice system continue to disproportionately harm people of color, particularly Black men. By weaving together these various threads, the author demonstrates that the racial caste system in the United States hasn’t disappeared but has simply been redesigned under the guise of criminal justice.

The most compelling aspect of her argument is how she highlights the ways that labeling someone a criminal allows society to strip them of rights and protections. Employment, housing, voting, education—these are all areas where felons are subject to the same kinds of discrimination that African Americans faced under Jim Crow. The parallel between past racial oppression and modern-day mass incarceration is both sobering and eye-opening.

While the book focuses mainly on Black men, which left me wanting more exploration of how these systems impact other marginalized groups like Black women, it’s clear that her goal was to focus on this specific facet of racial injustice. Thus, I don’t blame the author for this choice. Additionally, though the book briefly touches on potential solutions, it doesn’t delve deeply into how to dismantle these oppressive systems. However, this isn’t a flaw but rather a reflection of the book’s purpose, which is to diagnose the problem, not necessarily provide an exhaustive roadmap for change. Overall, this book achieves its goal masterfully, shedding light on the deeply entrenched racial injustices still present in American society today.

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graecus_'s review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

4.25

fascinating book. very informative on the origins, purpose, and effects of the prison system. it felt very slow at times, and there were parts where ideas felt repeated, but overall very informative

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vanesst's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

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itsquinntendo's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I have had this book on my shelves for years but always felt intimidated picking it up. Now i'm really kicking myself for waiting so long. I have learned a lot about racial inequality, and a bit about mass incarceration, but this was the first real deep dive I've done. The information is laid out so clearly and detailed, and despite my initial intimidation, I believe this is a great introductory book for these concepts. I know this one has been recommended a million times, but I'll certainly recommend to my friends.

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wlreed312's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad

4.5

Everyone in America should read this book. As someone who has family that has been a direct participant in the war on drugs (I have a cousin who was an undercover narcotics officer before he retired) this was both eye-opening and upsetting. I knew some of the history because I've read quite a bit about the Nixon years, and learned some more about the Reagan years through various sources, but there was still so much I was unaware of. I thought the last chapter dealing with the concept of exceptionism was particularly enlightening. I was more than a little pained by the multiple mentions of Bill Cosby as someone who had been a positive figure in the black community, but that's what I get for waiting so long to read it. I did get slightly bogged down in the legalese occasionally, but it never got so bad I didn't understand the points being made.

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annamay1021's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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lkh24's review against another edition

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informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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eelizard's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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