The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of ColorblindnessAs the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status - much like their grandparents before them. In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community - and all of us - to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Citizenjoyce - LibraryThingI remain surprised that neither Alexander nor those in the abolition (of the police force) people have anything good to say about Obama. She does say that they have to be willing to upset their allies ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Cataloger623 - LibraryThingI found the book incredibly sad. It is a litany of how those in power with a racist agenda have worked to undermine the efforts of Blacks to gain equality. It describes how these same people have ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander Limited preview - 2020 |
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander Limited preview - 2012 |