Final Reading

April 12, 2018
"All of Us or None"

Hello readers,

I have finished the book, against all odds ;) This will be my fifth and final blog post of The New Jim Crow. Overall, it was a really good read. To be honest, the majority of the last chapter somewhat lost my interest, but nonetheless, still a really intriguing and eyeopening book for me.

In my last post, I want to summarize Alexander's main idea in her final chapter. Additionally, I want to raise a question I had during my reading, and then try to answer it with my own knowledge and research. Let's get going!

In her last chapter titled, "The Fire this Time", Alexander explains her thoughts on why this massive system will be difficult to dismantle. It cannot be taken down by litigation and reform policies. It is on a much larger scale than that. This system of mass incarceration is more than a system of laws and policies, it is a social construction. Some difficulties that face the end of this system include:

• Civil Rights lawyers focusing solely on litigation
• The resistance to support criminals
• Prisons make up a large part of our economy, millions of jobs would be lost
• People are hesitant to discuss race/inequality 
• Responsibility and morals are to blame for these arrests, not the system 
• Model black citizens, like Barack Obama, covers up the progress that still needs to be made

 Although Alexander lists these setbacks impeding these necessary improvements to end mass incarceration, she also provides recommendations. 

• The public must be aware of the current incarceration system
• Financial incentives to imprison African Americans must be revoked
• African Americans must no longer be viewed as the target/enemy
• Drug treatment and educational programs should be implemented
• The entire population must be included in this movement for human rights

Overall, this chapter focused on the difficulties with dismantling this massive system, but also in a more hopeful tone, how to dismantle it. This was a good choice on Alexander's part to leave the book on a serious, but also hopeful note.

Now, let's shift into the question I had while reading....

If  history repeats itself, mass incarceration can be expected to end and another caste system to be created. What might this system be like?

As Martin Luther King Jr. stated, a new movement will arise. This movement to end mass incarceration will be a great success. But if history repeats itself, as it usually does, a new racial caste system will be created. What will it look like? There is no way to be sure. But as history has shown, a racial caste system will be constructed to oppress people of color. 

In history, systems such as slavery and Jim Crow laws have restricted the success of African Americans. Today, a blatantly racist caste system would not be able to exist. But in this colorblind society, one that is disguised certainly could, as seen in mass incarceration. As I previously stated, I am not sure what the new caste system would be. However, I do think that there are certain systems already in place that could transform into "The New Jim Crow". 

There are many ways that a new caste system could be transformed, but one way that seems very apparent to me is within attending higher education. Having a college degree is already a must in many employment searches. And additionally, college is notoriously difficult for people of color to attend. This may be due to financial restraints, a disinclination to attend college, or not getting accepted. But nonetheless, African American and Hispanic individuals are largely underrepresented. In fact, people of color are more underrepresented today than they were 35 years ago(Ashkenas). Although Affirmative Action has certainly helped, colleges still are comprised of mainly white people.

Essentially, this difficulty for African Americans and Hispanics to attend and be accepted to college will influence there ability to find good-paying careers. Especially, if employers begin to require applicants to have a college degree, then a large portion of the population will be unemployed. In a way, this is already true, in that individuals without a college education will not be able to find a good paying job to support their families. But if employers became even more exclusive in their hiring process, primarily white people would be employed, while people of color would only be able to support themselves from minimum wage, which is proven to not be enough. 

So again, as history is know to repeat itself, another racial caste system will emerge. And as mass incarceration was not foreseen, neither will this one. It won't be obvious, but it will be detrimental to people of color, just as slavery and the Jim Crow laws were. 

I really enjoyed Alexander's style of writing. She consistently referenced outside sources which made her more credible. Also, her use of pathos made me realize how negatively influential this system has become. And her concluding chapter emphasized how difficult it will be to take down this monster of a system, but also recognizes that there is hope and things that can be done to change it. 

Thanks for following me on this journey!

Ellie M

                                                                  Citations

Ashkenas, Jeremy, et al. “Even With Affirmative Action, Blacks and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years Ago.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/24/us/affirmative-action.html.