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The New Jim Crow Chapter Summary

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The New Jim Crow Chapter Summary
"An institution or reform movement that is not selfish, must originate in the recognition of some evil that is adding to the sum of human suffering, or diminishing the sum of happiness." This quote by suffragist and philanthropist Clara Barton so eloquently describes the issues within the United States prison system and its desperate need to for reformation. Chapter four of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander brought forth the gaspingly oppressive sector of prison (via the judicial branch). Alexander illuminated the reader to the realities of the United States prison system and the covert nuances of racism, discrimination, and the mechanisms brought forth to perpetuate 'legal slavery' in America. In regards to the major points of the chapter, the author described: the effect of prison on society, African Americans relationship in regards to prison- i.e. their chances to go and the societal influences that make African Americans disproportionately susceptible to the prison system- as well as the person's role in society after they are released from prison.
As far as prison goes within the United States, in chapter 4, author Michelle Alexander introduced statistics supporting the ideology that African Americans and people of color are disproportionately socialized for a life in prison due …show more content…
She showed the multi-faceted mechanisms of oppression within it and its subjugation of minorities, lower strata citizens, and disproportionately African Americans. This institution, as Alexander illustrated, closely resembles the social institution of slavery and the Jim Crow laws that followed. The systematic disenfranchisement, stereotyping that goes into play when confining individuals to prison, and the social conditions endured by those after prison life show, as the chapter alluded to, a corrupt system in desperate need of
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