The New Jim Crow
As stated by Michelle Alexander in her novel, The New Jim Crow, mass incarceration is the new system of control paralleling Jim Crow policies, where discrimination is perfectly legal towards those who are in the prison system. The War on Drugs resulted in mass incarceration which accounts for the disproportionate rate of black men under the criminal justice system’s control.
Alexander elaborates on how a criminal record today subjects black people to the same discrimination as Jim Crow. Through unfair policies targeted towards former convicts who have already served their time, the U.S. labels them as a permanent second class citizen of the caste system. Discrimination that former inmates experience after prison include not being able to find employment, public housing, federal benefits, and more. They even surrender their rights to voting and jury duty. This deters those convicted of crimes to live normal lives and oftentimes results in cycles of poverty and prison, further holding black people back.
In the map below, the imprisonment rate of the United States during 2019 is shown. When hovering over the states, readers can see the prison population, probation population, and the black : white ratio in prison. This will illustrate the disproportionate rate of African Americans under the criminal justice system.
As seen in the map, African Americans are imprisoned at a disproportionate rate. Wisconsin’s black to white ratio is 11.5:1, meaning for every 11.5 black person in jail, there is 1 white person. Texas has a prison population of 154,479 and a probation population of 371,361, meaning there are over 500,000 people under state control who are considered second-class citizens.
These second-class citizens face discrimination that parallels the same discrimination from Jim Crow. For example, former convicts are subjected to employment discrimination. With a criminal background, places of employment are legally allowed to turn an applicant away. This makes it difficult for released individuals to turn their lives around and make ends meet.
The War on Drugs started in 1971 and incarceration rates has increased by 500%, disproportionately affecting the poor and minorities. More people are sentenced to jail for minor drug crimes than violent and property crimes as a result of the War on Drugs. In the chart below, the increase in incarceration rates from 1925 to 2014 is illustrated. There is a misconception that the War on Drugs has ended, but this statement is false. The war changed the criminal justice system and continues to thrive while keeping minorities under government control.
It can be observed that incarceration rates drastically increased since the War on Drugs was waged in June of 1971. The increase of arrests for non-violent drug crimes accounted for the majority of U.S. prison population. The War redirected police resources away from violent crimes like murder, assault, and rape and focused attention on minor drug possessions. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander states that the authorities were bribed to increase drug arrests. When performing raids and arrests, police officers were given the seized properties, cars, and money as compensation and incentive to support the Drug War. This explains the high increase in incarceration rates and the high percentage of non-violent offenders in jail.
