Publishers Weekly
Contrary to the rosy picture of race embodied in Barack Obama's political success and Oprah Winfrey's financial success, legal scholar Alexander argues vigorously and persuasively that “[w]e have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” Jim Crow and legal racial segregation has been replaced by mass incarceration as “a system of social control” (“More African Americans are under correctional control today... than were enslaved in 1850”). Alexander reviews American racial history from the colonies to the Clinton administration, delineating its transformation into the “war on drugs.” She offers an acute analysis of the effect of this mass incarceration upon former inmates “who will be discriminated against, legally, for the rest of their lives, denied employment, housing, education, and public benefits.” Most provocatively, she reveals how both the move toward colorblindness and affirmative action may blur our vision of injustice: “most Americans know and don't know the truth about mass incarceration”—but her carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable book should change that. (Feb.)
Kirkus Reviews
A civil-rights lawyer's disturbing view of why young black men make up the majority of the more than two million people now in America's prisons. In this explosive debut, Alexander (Law/Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity) argues that the imprisonment of unusually large numbers of young blacks and Latinos-most harshly sentenced for possession or sale of illegal drugs, mainly marijuana-constitutes "a stunningly comprehensive and well-designed system of racialized social control." The "warehousing" of inner-city youths, she writes, is a new form of Jim Crow under which drug offenders-in jail or prison, on probation or parole-are denied employment, housing, education and public benefits; face a lifetime of shame; and rarely successfully integrate into mainstream society. The author blames the situation mainly on the War on Drugs, begun by Ronald Reagan in 1982, which grew out of demands for "law and order" that were actually a racially coded backlash to the civil-rights movement. The situation continues because of racial indifference, not racial bias, she writes. Many will dismiss the author's assertions; others will find her observations persuasive enough to give pause. Most people who use or sell illegal drugs are white, but in many states 90 percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses are black or Latino. Police departments, given financial incentives-cash grants and the right to keep confiscated cash and assets from drug raids-to focus on drug enforcement, find it easier to send SWAT teams into poor neighborhoods, where they will face less political backlash, than into gated communities and college frat houses. Also, most people donot care what happens to drug criminals, feeling that "they get what they deserve." So what's to be done? Alexander writes that civil-rights leaders, reluctant to advocate for criminals, remain quiet on the issue; President Obama, an admitted former user of illegal drugs, is not in a position to offer leadership; and policymakers offer only piecemeal reforms. She hopes a new grassroots movement will foster frank discussion about race, cultivate an ethic of compassion for all and end the drug war and mass incarceration. Alarming, provocative and convincing.
From the Publisher
"Devastating. . . . Alexander does a fine job of truth-telling, pointing a finger where it rightly should be pointed: at all of us, liberal and conservative, white and black."—Forbes "Alexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a 'much-needed conversation' about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of our criminal-justice policies."—Ellis Cose, Newsweek "Invaluable . . . a timely and stunning guide to the labyrinth of propaganda, discrimination, and racist policies masquerading under other names that comprises what we call justice in America."—Daily Kos "Many critics have cast doubt on the proclamations of racism's erasure in the Obama era, but few have presented a case as powerful as Alexander's."—In These Times "Carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable."—Publishers Weekly "[Written] with rare clarity, depth, and candor."—Counterpunch "A call to action for everyone concerned with racial justice and an important tool for anyone concerned with understanding and dismantling this oppressive system."—Sojourners "Undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S."—Birmingham News
"During the past decade, no single book was more directly responsible for reshaping how the American public understands race and mass incarceration than Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow."—Carolyn Copeland, Daily Kos "[The New Jim Crow] took the academy and the streets by storm, and forced the nation to reconsider the systems that allowed for blatant discrimination."—The Chronicle of Higher Education“If you’re interested in learning more about the real lives caught up in our country’s justice system, I highly recommend The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. It offers an eye-opening look into how the criminal justice system unfairly targets communities of color—and especially Black communities.”—Bill Gates
OCTOBER 2012 - AudioFile
Is the United States intentionally creating a class of people whose rights are being violated in the name of public safety? Are we intentionally excluding an entire subgroup of citizens—convicted criminals, who are mainly African-American males—from participating in our democracy? This book tackles these provocative questions, and the answers are not pretty. Narrator Karen Chilton reads this work as an academic analysis and a social critique, and she succeeds on both levels. Her slightly nasal voice is calm and assured, and she paces herself so we can follow the potent arguments presented by the author. At times she sounds too professorial, a style that causes her to lose energy, but overall Chilton effectively captures the tone and intent of this important study. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
