(This is similar to my last paper in other aspects simply because I never used it. If I had used it, it would be plagiarism. Instead, I still reworded and used information but it was more fact based than opinion based and had several sources. So if you see similarities please don't say "oh she's just recycling old papers". I ended up turning something different in. Thanks lovelies. Yes I did credit the person who had helped wrote this paper cause I was struggling but I felt bad for getting her help which is why I didn't use it.)

Jazzy and Kimberly C.

Intro to S.

29 April 2019

Reaction Paper to The New Jim Crow

      The New Jim Crow written by Michelle Alexander plunges into the depths of how a newly evolved caste of the racial system is evident in today's day and age. Many people believe that segregation is over and done with. Alexander was one of those people. It could be because there are many prominent African-American individuals in this time period, so some take that as an explanation for why there is not segregation. However, once she started working in the criminal justice system, Alexander was able to come face to face with the injustices of the system. She realised that Jim Crow laws were still around even today, just new and improved. Just as society grew and changed, so did Jim Crow. The face of Jim Crow was able to change as the superiority of the upper class tried to maintained its clean and ethically bland appearance. When slavery ended, the south complied to a certain degree and created Jim Crow Laws to still restrict, or hold back, the rights of the newly freed slaves. Documentaries such as The 13th amendment talk of this was segregation in disguise. During the war on drugs, more African-American men were arrested than white men. It was found out later that the drug problem was even bigger in white neighborhoods but since they could afford the powder form, it was harder to locate rather than the pill form which many African-Americans had. Since they would be incarcerated, that would make them felons in the eyes of the law. Just as in slave times, when marked a felon, you can't vote, find a job easily, or get housing assistance. This restriction of African American rights ties into ideas of industrialization, consequences of "racial ignorance", and racial profiling come into place.

      I was intrigued by Alexander's topic of the criminal justice system. Having grown up listening to the warnings from my elders, I always knew I had to be more careful as a black female compared to a white female. It wasn't until I connected Alexander's concept to institutional racism and white privilege was I able to understand why I was told these things later in life. Most African-Americans are labeled as criminals by our justice system. Typically, it's the males who are seen more as a threat than the females. It may seem as, amongst ourselves as individuals, views and attitudes have changed toward African-Americans, specifically the males, that is not the case with our organizations and institutions. These organizations may not exactly commit violent hate crimes or be racially biased, but instead will have roadblocks in place that may be designed to keep African-Americans from prospering. Theorist Iris Marion Young uses the "birdcage" metaphor in which "Only a large number of wires arranged in a specific way, and connected to one another, serve to enclose the bird and to ensure it cannot escape"(179). Caucasians may be able to commit crimes at the same if not even higher rates than African-Americans. White privilege may be able to explain why Caucasians are more likely to be proven innocent rather than guilty in court. Most assume that African-Americans are just inherently criminals but it is the Police who have the power to who they can search. For example, African-Americans get pulled over more in traffic violations than Caucasians typically are but courts usually dismiss accusations of racism because of the many traffic violations any individual can break. One instance I can relate to was when my stepdad was pulled over twice because he was African-American and had the same model car as another African-American male. Instead of acknowledging their own mistake, they instead gave him a ticket because his tags were expired. African-Americans are simply scapegoats for white privilege when it comes to crimes in America.

(This is a paragraph I really want to expand more on because I have a lot of opinions about the subject in this section. You may not agree with me but oh well. I feel like we need to keep some of these confederate statues. Not because I think they're the best people but because of how things are going, we already are bombarded with "slavery was years ago get over it". Destroying these landmarks will eventually come around to "where's your proof that slavery even existed". I hate that people want to worship these statues but in the same breath as need them. They stand as symbol that racism still exists. They can only be torn down when racism is gone. And frankly, I don't see racism ending anytime soon in this world. Maybe we should look up the statues of something else be done but we need everyone to remember that we went through as a people and still go through is very real. That's all I'll say on that for now.)
      With this new generation, "racial ignorance" is becoming more and more prevalent. As always, school children are taught the horrors of slavery and the Jim Crow laws. Even so, classes are never taught about the modern Jim Crow laws. They are taught that slavery is done and over with and that it will never happen again. Children grow up thinking that it doesn't matter what happened to African-Americans in the past because they now sit in an integrated class with them. With a whole generation thinking that segregation doesn't exist, we now have individuals who believe no wrongdoing is being done to other races. In the future, when African-Americans are apprehended, it will merely be seen as a punishment instead of the effect of modern-day Jim Crow laws. One such issue that relates to modern times is the tearing down of Confederate statues. Students rally together to erase anything linking to the past, not knowing that these new Jim Crow laws are in place. This era will be the hardest to make any change in simply because there isn't any evidence of it breaking civil rights policies. It will never be able to have legal standing as to prove anything racially biased.

      As a black female, I understood the concepts of racial profiling Alexander wrote of. I've seen it happen in my own life and represented in media. I used to wonder why African-Americans played the roles of thugs and criminals. I used to wonder why black female students would be dress coded and punished while the white females could go about wearing whatever they wanted and not get punished. After reading The New Jim Crow, I understood Alexander when she wrote of how racial biases are still in place. Incarceration relies on society to continually shame, ignore, and turn away from discrimination of African-Americans. In fact, incarceration grows and thrives on those facts. What societies don't realize is that false accusations can ruin a person's life. The story of Kalief Browder provides a perfect example of a broken justice system. Accused of a stolen backpack, police arrested 16-year-old Browder who was later sent to Rikers Island for three years. He was later released when sufficient evidence wasn't found and when the main witness left the US. It was too late though for Browder. He had undergone mental, physical, and sexual abuse in prison. He couldn't find a job once he was released, and was still being questioned for a theft he said he didn't commit. Many people after incarceration try to find their place back in society when released. Some do while others, like Kalief, could not. Kalief ended up killing himself two years after his release. People will never fully understand the impact the new Jim Crow Laws can have in others, but it happens every day.

      The system wants African-Americans to conform, but many don't. In schools, the workforce, and other aspects of life, African-Americans are seen as a number. Schools with higher diversity levels see less money and lower quality education just as it was in the '60s. This education can then lead to low-income jobs. Jobs that don't fully support one person let alone a family. The neighborhoods are seen as bad areas and many are scared to be in them when simply, the government just doesn't fund the community. While African-Americans may be able to conform to society, others are simply waiting for one minor mishap to call them out on. The New Jim Crow was designed to be disguised and go unnoticed. The institutions fully intend to change and grow along with society making the consequences easy to see but the instigator harder to find. The New Jim Crow was an intriguing book and fully shows the problems on an otherwise undetected problem. Voices like Michelle Alexander are needed in these generations to shine a light on industrialization or otherwise it would go unnoticed until the next system.