The Book Depository The New Jim Crow (10th Anniversary Edition) by Michelle Alexander

Author: Kris

Rating: 5

Review: This book will change the way you think about criminal and judicial systems in the US. It will shine a light on a new form of segregation based on Race. After looking at a pamphlet, proclaiming that Drug War is the new Jim Crow, the author ignored it as a theory promoted by a bunch of conspiracy guys. She continues in her job as a civil rights lawyer, but in due course realises that the statement was actually true. Millions of black and brown people in the US are languishing behind bars because of the Drug war that was unleashed during the 80’s when Ronald Regan was the president. The outcome of her quest to expose the truth is this book. And what a fantastic book this is. Here are the key points raised in the book: 1. The race based segregation never went away, it just changed to a form that was more palatable to the prevalent norms in the society. Started as Slavery, ended with the civil war in 1865. Transformed to Jim crow laws, ended with the civil rights law in 1964. Transformed to War on drugs in the 1980’s, and still going on. It’s like a chameleon changing colours to avoid being detected 2. The criminal and judicial systems act in tandem to act as a funnel sucking in an increasing number of black and brown people into a life of segregation. At top of the funnel are the police who routinely stop and search the minorities looking for drugs, flagrantly defying 4th amendment which was meant to protest people’s right to privacy . Black and brown men are put in jail for possessing even small quantities of drugs, while the white men are treated differently. Once they are behind bars, they are scared into accepting guilty plea by the prosecutor, or go to trial and risk harsh sentences. The prosecutors have been granted virtually unlimited power to go after them. And by passing laws, the higher courts have made it impossible for police and prosecutors to be held accountable for their actions 3. Once the person comes out, the segregation doesn’t end. They are discriminated on every possible front: housing, jobs, social benefits. It is monumentally difficult for him to get back to normalcy. Often, he ends up back in jail. And the cycle continues 4. There are incentives for politicians and businesses to keep things the way they are. For politicians, it’s a way to keep the white people feel distracted from their poor economic condition. For businesses that manage jails, there’s money to be made as more and more people are put behind bars. Their profit depends on more people being incarcerated. With such strong incentives, it won’t be easy to pass legislation to abolish this race based segregation ‘Colorblindness’ in the sub-title of book means that we as a society have become indifferent to the plight of these minorities. Because it’s too convenient to think that segregation doesn’t exist, especially when we see a black man getting elected as the president. And we don’t hear people openly vouching for racist beliefs (although that is changing as we can see in the current US election). The author warns against this indifference. Just because those prisons are located in remote villages, away from the main society, we cannot ignore this race based segregation. Finally, the author proposes that nothing short of a movement will end this form of segregation that is being waged under the name of War on Drugs.

Author: Michelle

Rating: 4

Review: I admit I was intimidated by the book. Im not American, neither have I been there. There's many things I don't understand about America, their voting system, their lobbying, their political policies. I thought this book, which is purely on the war on drugs and mass incarceration, would be far too complex for me to understand. I was wrong. The author does a fantastic job of breaking things down. And it blew my mind. Alexander takes us from the Jim Crow era to today's war on drugs. I did not know a single drug offense leaves people without the right to vote, access to food, housing and other help. I didn't realise two drug offenses regardless of how small those offences are, can leave you in prison for the rest of your life. I've read about the school to prison pipeline in the US previously and this book added to that foundation in terms of the war on drugs. The section on the Obama Presidency was also very interesting for me. I learnt a lot in this book. Very accessible for a reader like me who has limited knowledge of our cousins over the pond.