Change of Heart

Posted on by

When I first started to read The New Jim Crow, I was very skeptical of the book. The whole topic is very controversial and difficult to discuss. Nobody wants to admit that their legal/justice system has giant cracks within it. We all hope to live in a society where justice executed fairly and of course in a non-discriminatory manner. The author begins her analysis of mass incarceration with an introduction to its structure and policies within the legal system guarantee biased results.

After reading the first few chapters. I kind of realized the major issues at hand with our legal system. Michelle Alexander uses several Supreme Court cases that help to bolster her argument against the fairness of the legal system. The last few chapters of the novel describe the comparisons of mass incarceration to Jim Crow. The most obvious similarity between the two is marginalization of the African American community. The race of Americans is used as stigma just like the stigma of criminality. They function in a very similar manner.

In the last chapter, the author proposes a sort of “solution” to the major racial disparity that exists in our legal system. She suggests that only a social movement can weaken the caste system and legal laws will be futile without a grass roots movement. People have to acknowledge the shortcomings of our system and have to reach a consensus upon change. Her main point is that advocates have to realize and confront the role of race in our society, without this, a new caste will inevitably form upon the dismantling of the “old” one.

My question is: Did anyone have a change of heart regarding our legal system after reading The New Jim Crow?

 

Posted in 5/2

The Issue is in the Incarceration

Posted on by

Based on what we’ve read, it’s quite obvious that life of a felon after prison is one of prejudice, unequal opportunity, and general hardship, but what is the root of this problem? and why do they occur in such large numbers? Lets ignore race for a second, The US currently leads the world in incarceration rates with 743 of 100,000 citizens currently in jail. In total, this comes out to about 2.3 million total inmates. 2.3 million people, around 40% of which are African American, are in terrible positions upon their release.

We all know that there is a problem here, tens of billions of dollars are being put into both the prison and welfare sides of this process, and the victims of the inadequacies of this are stuck in a position between life as an ex-felon and life as a citizen. If the government can work to increase the efficiency of the prison system, change laws to reflect the time, and buffer the racist patterns of arrest, they could limit the number of ex-felons on the street, thus being able to give them more opportunity.

I think im ready to hear Alexander’s solution, but what is your’s?

Boxed In

Posted on by

In Chapter 4, Alexander talks about how those who have been convicted and deemed a criminal have no way to live a normal life again, no matter how small the crime they did is. All people look at is whether or not you went to prison. They seem to assume all criminals are the same and try to shun out criminals. Alexander tries to show us how hard it is for a criminal to get back on their feet again, when they can simply get evicted from their house and become homeless, and have to pay for all these extra fees once they get out of prison, when they can barely even find a job due to to their record.

She also highlights the importance of their rights being taken away no matter how small the crime they did. It gives this mentality that they are lower than the average person since they have no basic rights. I think there should a line drawn in society. Those who probably made a mistake in college and took some drugs shouldn’t have their whole lives ruined cause of it. I think the government needs to help these people more instead of taking advantage of them. They should be able to connect these people with decent or at least minimum wage paying jobs not jobs that offer them little to nothing as if they’re practically working for free. Is there really no second chance for these people?

 

Chapter 4

Posted on by

I found it rather interesting how Alexander started the chapter off by mentioning Frederick Douglass and his fight against slavery. Alexander compared those who were released from prison to the slaves who were “free by law.” Just as these former slaves were not truly free, people who are freed from prison are still subject to much hate and prejudice. A fine example of this is when a felon asked for an application for housing and he was denied on the grounds that he was an ex-felon.

The reason for such hate is the stigma society places on those who have been to prison. Those who have served jail time are extremely frowned upon and the whole idea of going to prison is heavily stigmatized. Another point to note is that because of this stigmatization, a good majority of those who are released from prison are caught in this cycle of coming back home, finding no job/housing, and going back to prison for committing a petty crime (which they probably needed to commit in order to sustain themselves).

At the end of all this, I find myself asking if our country is ever going to progress if we keep denying people who’ve committed some wrong second chances.

Mistrals and Fellons in A New Jim Crow

Posted on by

Based on the direction of the discussion in A New Jim Crow was going, it was quiet obvious to expect more facts that place previously incarcerated individuals into a second class. However in chapter four, I was surprised to see Michelle Alexander compare the current Hip-Hop culture to a form of a minstrel show. I always thought of the Hip-Hop scene’s references to drugs and gang related violence as a form of expression and rebellion, but thinking of it as a minstrel was always a little farfetched for me. The following reference is one reference to rap and hip-hop becoming akin to minstrel shows and I think it has a point when listening to hip-hop songs that have and had charted on the Billboard Top 100. Nas and Nick Cannon perform the following video, where they pose in blackface and make a mockery of themselves to show the audience that Hip-Hop may change in a negative way if artists continue performing about music that mocks their culture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRVqVwGWocM

I can empathize with her case of treating a group of released felons as a second class and expect them to not react in a negative way. I also believe that there should be some leeway for prior felons in receiving benefits such as food stamps and accessing HUD in unbiased ways. Perhaps if the “box” changed from asking if an individual was ever arrested or associated with a crime to asking if an individual was previously arrested or associated with a crime in the last 5 years, it would help curb some of the discrimination on the federal level. I am sure that even if the “box” was changed for private employers, companies could get around it by conducting background checks. It would be an advantage to not asking the prior felony question at all, because omitting the felony question would immediately start to raise red flags when an applicant is “suspected” to be a criminal. As I have been building up on my previous responses, I cannot wait to read Alexander’s proposed solution for the problem. Since she is so knowledgeable on the topic of what happens when one is incarcerated, she should know of some methods that can be done in the public and private sector that may be able to remedy the situation.

Ch. 4

Posted on by

Reading this chapter I was immediately caught up in topics that we had talked about before in class. Again, there were many actions that were directed against criminals and people who had committed a felony. I think I was most surprised that many judges and officials either did not know or chose not to tell those convicted of crimes of the other consequences of being convicted and not serving time in prison.

These consequences included getting your license revoked, not being able to qualify for public benefits, not being able to find a home, and not being able to find a job. Many blacks, women and men, are stuck in a cycle of going to prison, returning home, not being able to support themselves, and then going back to prison because of a small offense. It was also interesting to see how the use of state prisons and jails dropped from 74% to 40% once people who were freed from prison were given housing.

My question is, has the EEOC taken any other measures to help ensure that discrimination doesn’t occur between job applicants who have committed past demeanors verses those who have not? If so, is it effective?

Stigmatization and Response

Posted on by

I was particularly intrigued by the idea of stigmatization, and how it is either embraced or acts as a source of shame for those affected by incarceration.  I think a lot of people blame factors like rap music or gangsta style for perpetuating crime, when in reality they are often a result of being forced into a stereotype.  By embracing a stereotype, it is easier to deal with the consequences if the generalizations end up playing out as true.  A person can then act as though it was their upbringing or overall personhood that caused their behavior, rather than an act of their own volition or a flawed justice system.  Certainly drug promoting and misogynistic lyrics do not help solve crime, but they certainly do not directly cause it.  They must be inspired from an ingrained lifestyle of some sort.

I was less familiar with the idea of shaming, particularly among families and church goers.  The very fact that this involves hidden information means that this isn’t a phenomena that is well publicized. All that seems to be represented in the media is persona outlined above, of the typical criminal embracing a crime lifestyle.  It helped me to read Alexander’s examples of actual stories of those that have been harshly impacted by the current criminal justice system.  I think it’s easy to characterize a criminal as entirely in the wrong, as completely deserving of whatever punishment our judicial system sends their way, but it’s important to be aware of the injustices that are inherent to the present standard.

What did everyone find more compelling overall, Alexander’s description of embracing the crime stereotypes or feeling a sense of shame?  Which do you think is a more common response?

-Jacqui Larsen

Feedback on The New Jim Crow, Chapter 4

Posted on by

What interests me about this chapter is that it mentions about how racism affects the black community and how messages pervasive in them are internalized. This internalization creates the message that black people are completely at fault for their failures. Michelle Alexander mentions about Bill Cosby, who mentions that the problem with the black community is that black men have no shame. This creates the image of the “good black person” as compared to the “bad black person”, with the “bad black person” being the creation of the stereotypical black person by American society. This is a reason why when a black person acts in a way like the “bad black person”, that they are seen as “making all black people look bad”.

The image of the “good black person” as compared to the “bad black person” is depicted in the media. In sitcoms, such as the Jeffersons, the Cosby Show, and Family Matters, the families are “good black people”. More media today depict the stereotype of the “bad black people”, in reality TV shows, hip hop music videos, and shows like Maury and Jerry Springer. In Tyler Perry movies, there are depictions of the “good black people” and the “bad black people”. The creation of the “bad black person” causes the black community to scorn a black person who has been to prison (even for mild drug offenses) and to view him as a criminal.

Ending the distinction between the “good black person”, who is from a middle class family and goes to church regularly and the “bad black person”, depicted in hip hop music videos and reality TV will only end if the stereotypes of the black person from other racial and ethnic groups end.