In the preface, when Alexander wrote that she is writing this book for people like her, people who cared about racial equality, it almost gave me chills. The reason why is because racial equality, to me, is so natural. Obviously, whites and blacks should have the same rights and be treated equally. For someone to go against that seems “not normal”. I quickly became interested in what Alexander’s “new” Jim Crow laws were.

I especially liked Alexander’s writing style and how she introduced Cotton and then traced back to his great grandfather and the rights that he, too, were denied. It helped to tie how racial issues were still prevalent today, especially in the criminal justice system. I never would have thought of this new Jim Crow law of mass incarceration. It is interesting to see how policies and ideas that were prevelant during slavery are still prevalent in America, today.

“The language of case may well seem foreign or unfamiliar to some” (Alexander 13). It does seem foreign because Americans are constantly fighting for equal rights and criminals should also deserve their rights after they have done their time. Otherwise, there is always a potential that the same crimes may be done and the reality that they will not be able to support themselves or their families.

My question is, how well spread in America is this notion that mass incarceration is a form of inequality.