I found chapter four of The New Jim Crow, to be very illuminating.  It described how former felons released from prison are regarded as sub-humans basically. A very disturbing point that the author drove my attention to was the fact that ex-convicts were stripped of basic freedoms, such as the right to vote and serve on a jury.

Michelle Alexander cites several laws and which interdict the re-integration of former felons to society. I found some of the laws and stipulations to be particularly horrendous. The author mentioned a law that stated if a former prisoner, in public housing, was caught doing drugs, or anyone associated with him even far from the property the convict would be evicted. This is beyond ridiculous. This law can damage and destroy family. It can serve as an impetus to the useful integration of former prisoners in to society. I mean how can society ever expect former prisoners to be productive members if they are all so limited in their resources? If you think about it, they can’t get a job because they are identified as felons via a black box. They have the government and parole officers eyeing their every moment waiting for a wrong move to lock them up. It is as if they are almost destined to go back. By the virtue of society, it seems like these people just like float and can’t develop self-efficacy.

Another interesting point the author noted was how the black youth of America congregates in a sense to celebrate this stigma. She explains how this is a defense mechanism because these adolescents are used to the whole assumption of criminality that by virtue, they accept embrace it. This creates a dangerous situation because criminality should not be celebrated or promoted amongst the youth. In a sense, it seems like society has a drastic and innervating role in shaping the futures of former-felons and people who are thought to be such.