Essay On Mass Incarceration

Michelle Alexander described the history of race in the United States as one that created and then sustained a “caste system” through the present in the form of “mass incarceration.” Race is social construct that leads to the oppression of groups. The history of race is not pleasant. In fact, it is horrible and should not exist, as race should not be something that divides the human race. Of course race can be something that is celebrated for its diversity, but it should not be something that causes strife to a particular group of people. Unfortunately, racism is an outcome of ignorance toward race and this allows certain groups to systematically oppress others. Ignorance and hate are still running strong in the United States as minorities,
Despite the short-term victory, whites were stubborn in oppressing black people and they decided to use the law to do so. Thus, mass incarceration was born. Some whites believed that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil disobedience was adding to the rise of crime (Alexander, p. 41). Many politicians ran on a get tough on crime platform, as this was a catalyst for black mass incarceration. Blaming black riots for most of the crime in the country further divided races and allowed more hatred to make mass incarceration happen. President Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs really accelerated mass incarceration in which drug users and drug dealers were sought after (Alexander, p. 49). This was not really about getting drugs off the streets; it was about getting black people off the streets and put into prison. Economic decline and gentrification forced blacks to sell drugs to make money. This made it easy for motivated police to arrest masses of people in poor black communities. The criminal justice system boomed, creating jobs for whites while oppressing blacks. The vulnerabilities and racial resentments of poor whites really allowed for the birth of mass incarceration (Alexander, p. 58). In today’s world, mass incarceration has become the new Jim