The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of ColorblindnessAs the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status - much like their grandparents before them. In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community - and all of us - to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - kaulsu - LibraryThingIt took me three years to finish this book--but that really doesn't say much in itself. In the beginning, I found it troublesome to read because of my ignorance. At the end, I found it repetitive ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - GrlIntrrptdRdng - LibraryThingThis is one of the most important books I have ever read. Basically Michelle Alexander shows how The War on Drugs and mass incarceration is the new racial caste. She explains how slavery began, how ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander Limited preview - 2012 |
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander Limited preview - 2013 |
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander No preview available - 2010 |