The New Jim Crow: Chapters 1 & 2

In Michelle Alexander’s chapter 1 of The New Jim Crow, she took her readers on a roller coaster ride of the discriminations and achievements that African Americans faced in the United States. In this first chapter, Alexander informs her readers that there is a reoccurring theme of systems coming to an end and then shortly after, are reborn again. The birth of slavery began right after the Bacon’s Rebellion. Planters did not want the poor whites and blacks to unite with the common interest to end servitude, therefore the planters placed a wedge in between the two races through racial bribes. This control gave power to the white servants, pushing the African Americans even lower in the system as slaves. Eventually slavery ended during the Reconstruction Era, which abolished slavery (13^th amendment), provided due process (14th amendment), gave African Americans the right to vote (15^th amendment), and many other programs assisting African Americans. Just when things were improving significantly for former slaves (when we are at the top of the roller coaster), a new racial caste system awakens (bringing us back to the bottom). The Jim Crow laws were a way to segregate whites and blacks without utilizing slavery to force it. The Jim Crow laws separated whites and blacks by excluding blacks from public places like schools, churches, restroom, etc. Eventually The Jim Crow system came to an end in 1964 when the “Civil Rights Act formally dismantled the Jim Crow System of discrimination in public accommodations, employment, voting, education, and federally financed activities” (38). With the Civil Rights Movement a success, African Americans “stood a brief moment in the sun”(20), before another racial order launched. The end of the Jim Crow laws put us on the top of the roller coaster ride, but yet again the ride can never stop at the top, because another racial order must bring us back down to the bottom. The conservative whites cannot watch as African Americans thrive and succeed to their level. Every time the black community passed through an obstacle that held them back from being considered a first class citizen, the white elite men searched for a new system to keep blacks below them.

This was how the birth of mass incarceration came to be. Anyone that supported the civil rights legislation through direct-action and civil disobedience was considered a threat to law and order. In 1982, Reagan announced a “War on Drugs,” which targeted African Americans. Because of the discriminations of African Americans, they were given little to no job opportunities, which led them to sell drugs, in particularly crack cocaine. Unfortunately this was used against African Americans, for this so called “War on Drugs” and “Crack-Cocaine epidemic.” “The War on Drugs, cloaked in race-neutral language, offered whites opposed to racial reform a unique opportunity to express their hostility towards blacks and black progress, without being exposed to the charge of racism”(54). You would think the War on Drugs was to put away big time drug dealers, but that was not the case at all. Alexander revels to us that the New Jim Crow is another system that allows discrimination of African Americans by throwing them in jail for no reasonable reason, but the color of their skin.

Although chapter 1 had its ups and its downs through the progression of African Americans, It is an important and informative chapter to start out this book. Throughout history I noticed there was a pattern. Every time African Americans successfully took a step closer to their equalized citizenship, the white elite had to find a new system to keep blacks at the bottom. Alexander informs us that black discrimination never ended, and in fact it is reborn into our law and order system today.

Moving forward to chapter 2, Alexander educates us readers about how the legal system really works. She starts the chapter off by completely mocking the show Law and Order by saying how it misinterprets how real legality works. Basically, the legal system is corrupt and the way it is structured, police officers can put anyone they want in jail. This chapter reminds me of when we read The Common Place of Law, because Alexander refers to legality as a game. For an example, in the beginning of the chapter Alexander writes about the “Rules of the Game.” She states how there are few legal rules on police behavior. The 4^th amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure, but what constitutes reasonable? Many times a police officer follows through the search even if there were not probable cause. Police officers “cheat” in this legality game, making it hard/impossible for anyone else to play (anyone accused breaking the law). Throughout chapter 2 Alexander reveals different ways the legal system is corrupt.

1. If a police officer deems someone “dangerous,” they can stop and frisk them without a warrant.
2. Police officers do not inform the accused that they need consent.
3. Police officers use pretext in order to find drugs.
4. The “Volume Approach” technique
5. The “Drug-Courier Profile” technique
6. Byrne program funding local and state law enforcement to make drug arrests number one priority. (Even though drug use/abuse was at decline at the time)
7. Local/state police have access to military base/weapons.
8. Law enforcement gain profits through drug market.
9. Civil Forfeiture- departments can seize assets of a certain crime. (Property, money)
10. The more assets you have to trade, the shorter your sentence/punishment is. The fewer assets you have to trade the longer your sentence is.
11. Public defenders are not as meaningful. They have many clients, so the defender will not have the best-qualified lawyer/ if they even can get one.
12. Defenders are often forced to plea bargain in exchange for some form of leniency on sentence.
13. Harsh sentencing also forces people to snitch and fabricate/ falsely give wrong information
14. Drug crimes are sentences longer than violent crimes.
15. Being labeled a “felon”

After reading this chapter, it made me disgusted of the legal system I live in. I always believed that this system was primarily here to protect us and give justice, but little did I realize it also had an underlining propose as well. Michelle Alexander claims this discrimination still prevails today. So I was wondering if people agree or disagree with Alexander? Does anyone have any recent examples that prove this does exist today?