Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

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

28 reviews

antijeffbozo_love2read's review against another edition

adventurous informative tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, and Deportation

isabel_is_reading's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Slavery, and Police brutality

vanesst's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Slavery, and Classism

Moderate: Police brutality

annamay1021's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Police brutality

eelizard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

bsmulca's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Police brutality

lizziaha's review against another edition

informative

4.0

This book made a huge contribution to the shifting of my worldview. I highly recommend this book for a more complete understanding of race in America. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, and Police brutality

emmablue's review against another edition

4.5

every american should read this book. the information is essential.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Police brutality

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, and Slavery

alyssa_s10's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

One of the most important books to read if you are an American. Or belong to one of the countries that has a police system heavily based on the American police system. This book should be part of a mandator  reading list for college. I listened to the audio book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Slavery

Minor: Addiction

kayleighr's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Murder

Minor: Addiction