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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

This book critically examines the impact of mass incarceration on African Americans, arguing that it constitutes a new form of racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. more

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Michelle Alexander
Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander is a distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. Born on October 7, 1967, she is recognized for her expertise in criminal justice and civil rights. Alexander has authored numerous articles and books on the subject of mass incarceration in the United States and its effects on African American communities. more

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“If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the problem of mass incarceration is just too big, too daunting for us to do anything about and that we should instead direct our energies to battles that might be more easily won, history will judge us harshly. A human rights nightmare is occurring on our watch.”

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Book:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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“A new race-neutral language was developed for appealing to old racist sentiments, a language accompanied by a political movement that succeeded in putting the vast majority of backs back in their place. Proponents of racial hierarchy found they could install a new racial caste system without violating the law or the new limits of acceptable political discourse, by demanding 'law and order' rather than 'segregation forever'.”

LawPoliticalOrderFoundLanguageRaceForeverMovementLimitsMajorityRacistSentimentsAcceptableDiscourseSegregationHierarchyLaw And OrderCastesCaste SystemPolitical MovementsPolitical Discourse
Author:Michelle Alexander
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“Today there are more African-Americans under correctional control, in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. There are millions of African-Americans now cycling in and out of prisons and jails or under correctional control or saddled with criminal records. In major American cities today, more than half of working-age African-American men either are under correctional control or are branded felons, and are thus subject to legalized discrimination for the rest of their lives.”

MenWarAgeTodayCitiesHalfMillionsSubjectsMajorsPrisonDecadesDiscriminationAfrican AmericanCivil WarJailCyclingParoleBrandedAmerican CitiesFelonsProbation
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“No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid”

WorldCountryStatesBlackUnitedUnited StatesSouthPopulationHeightMinoritiesSouth AfricaOther CountriesPercentagesApartheidJim Crow
Book:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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“The fact that more than half of the young black men in any large American city are currently under the control of the criminal justice system (or saddled with criminal records) is not - as many argue - just a symptom of poverty or poor choices, but rather evidence of a new racial caste system at work.”

MenFactsYoungChoicesBlackJusticePoorCitiesHalfPovertyRecordsEvidenceCriminalsArguingSymptomsJustice SystemCriminal JusticeCastesCriminal Justice SystemAmerican CitiesCaste SystemPoor Choices
Author:Michelle Alexander
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“Since the nation's founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die, but then are reborn in new form, tailored to the needs and constraints of the time.”

NeedsHas BeensFormDiesNationsInstitutionsSlaveryAfrican AmericanControlledFoundingConstraintsCrowRebornJim CrowTailored
Book:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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