I remember last seminar’s seminar: Science and Tech in NYC, I had to research about the Gowanus Canal’s restoration efforts. Their task is insanely difficult to the point I said aloud that it would be clean when my great-grandchildren become adults. Michelle Alexander’s solution to the incarceration crisis similar to the Gowanus Canal’s mess because it would involve a very long-term effort in order to solve the solution. In fact, if her changes were proposed either by politicians or public interests groups, many of the policies that she is challenging will have lobbyists blocking every attempt. It may be stalled to such an extent to the point where public support has died out and many of the politicians who originally proposed the plan may no longer be in office. In other words, the solution to mass incarcerations of young Black men involves a long winding road.

I believe Alexander’s plan involves taking on too many interests groups for one organization to handle. For instance, she wants to remove financial incentives for police stations, federal grant money from law enforcement, and reeducation for law enforcement personnel just to name a few. According to the Department of Justice, in 2008 there were over 800,000 sworn officers. She also wants to close prisons and prevent the creation of new ones. If one were to avoid the stockholders of private prisons, there are over 400,000 correctional workers according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The overwhelming number of workers that she plans to affect, coupled with public support, as many Americans do believe that prisoners should be in jail where they rightfully belong, that plans that she propose are not the type that are right for the type of government in the United States.

When Alexander spoke about African American civil rights lawyers and Rosa Parks, it was a shock to me because I never knew about the other two individuals who refused to give up their seat. It all comes down to marketing a cause or belief because voters and public opinion can affect the United States government. If the United States were a dictatorship, Alexander’s proposals would get across easily because red tape wouldn’t be involved. However, because of voters and lobbyists the obstacles that Alexander wants to do would take a very long time. I believe in order to solve the mass incarceration crisis, education through social media and viral videos must educate the public before proposing Alexander’s wants for change. As she said, many white and middle class families are unaware of the affects the War on Drugs is having on us today.