Introduction
Hey everyone!
Welcome to my very first blog. This is going to be nothing but awesomeness, so fasten your seatbelts, and get ready for a rip-roaring good time!
I chose to read The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. Alexander is a law professor at Ohio State University, and she is also a member of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Her opinions and her way of expressing them were very interesting to me throughout the introduction and the first chapter because she acknowledged and described the opposing argument as well as her own. She also stated that she used to have completely different opinions than the ones she has now and was able to relate to the opposing argument, which I thought was intriguing because this gives her the ability to relate to both audiences and make her position stronger as she describes exactly why she changed her mind.
The New Jim Crow describes the racial inequality of the present judicial system and how African-Americans are still treated astronomically differently from whites with regards to incarceration and the later legal and social effects of their imprisonment. How is this possible, you ask? How is it possible that, after all this time and hard work to eliminate slavery and the racist Jim Crow laws, African-Americans are still not considered equal to whites? Alexander provides a roadmap in the introduction of her book that informs the reader of each topic she will discuss in order to prove how this can be so. She begins by proving her extensive research by going deep into America's racial history (she informed me of many surprising facts that they do not teach us in school, like how liberal, conservative, and radical groups formed to take positions on how African-Americans should regain their rights post Civil War and how the Constitution allowed for convicts to legally become slaves in order to pay back society for their crimes). Then, Alexander moves on in the following chapters to talk about the role of race in today's criminal justice system and how America operates under "an invisible caste system."
Having read 40 pages, which took me to about halfway through the first chapter of the book, I am very much enjoying reading so far! The book's sentence structure and language are very dense, and I have to admit, it takes me a looooooong time to read and comprehend a page, but the content is very interesting and it's certainly worth the effort. Never before had I considered the fact that African-Americans are receiving unequal treatment and experiencing an extreme lack of justice with regards to the law and incarceration after all of these years. Perhaps this is because I live in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, a predominantly white town in a predominantly white state, but I deeply appreciate the opportunity for the author of The New Jim Crow to educate me on these matters.
Something I found particularly interesting was the lack of pathos found so far in this book; the majority of the content in it is factual and appeals to logos. The racial inequality of incarceration in America, a place where "all men are created equal," is an extremely emotional and angering topic, and yet, Alexander can rouse these emotions in readers by merely reciting disturbing facts from our nation's history and appealing to logos. She repeatedly states that a form of racial oppression (so far in our history) only dies to be replaced by another, more subtle form. For example, slavery was replaced by the cruel Jim Crow laws, and those were replaced by today's methods of incarcerating black people and then being justified in discriminating against them. She tells few anecdotes and mentions few names, but her point that change and justice need to come about now gets across all the same.
Despite the fact that I have roughly 60 more pages to read before my next blog post is due, I am happy with my choice of The New Jim Crow and I am enjoying how this book is capable of opening my eyes and my mind to the world around me. And I mean the whole world, not just the safe and comfortable place that I have come to enjoy as a result of my skin color.
Welcome to my very first blog. This is going to be nothing but awesomeness, so fasten your seatbelts, and get ready for a rip-roaring good time!
I chose to read The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. Alexander is a law professor at Ohio State University, and she is also a member of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Her opinions and her way of expressing them were very interesting to me throughout the introduction and the first chapter because she acknowledged and described the opposing argument as well as her own. She also stated that she used to have completely different opinions than the ones she has now and was able to relate to the opposing argument, which I thought was intriguing because this gives her the ability to relate to both audiences and make her position stronger as she describes exactly why she changed her mind.The New Jim Crow describes the racial inequality of the present judicial system and how African-Americans are still treated astronomically differently from whites with regards to incarceration and the later legal and social effects of their imprisonment. How is this possible, you ask? How is it possible that, after all this time and hard work to eliminate slavery and the racist Jim Crow laws, African-Americans are still not considered equal to whites? Alexander provides a roadmap in the introduction of her book that informs the reader of each topic she will discuss in order to prove how this can be so. She begins by proving her extensive research by going deep into America's racial history (she informed me of many surprising facts that they do not teach us in school, like how liberal, conservative, and radical groups formed to take positions on how African-Americans should regain their rights post Civil War and how the Constitution allowed for convicts to legally become slaves in order to pay back society for their crimes). Then, Alexander moves on in the following chapters to talk about the role of race in today's criminal justice system and how America operates under "an invisible caste system."
Having read 40 pages, which took me to about halfway through the first chapter of the book, I am very much enjoying reading so far! The book's sentence structure and language are very dense, and I have to admit, it takes me a looooooong time to read and comprehend a page, but the content is very interesting and it's certainly worth the effort. Never before had I considered the fact that African-Americans are receiving unequal treatment and experiencing an extreme lack of justice with regards to the law and incarceration after all of these years. Perhaps this is because I live in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, a predominantly white town in a predominantly white state, but I deeply appreciate the opportunity for the author of The New Jim Crow to educate me on these matters.
Something I found particularly interesting was the lack of pathos found so far in this book; the majority of the content in it is factual and appeals to logos. The racial inequality of incarceration in America, a place where "all men are created equal," is an extremely emotional and angering topic, and yet, Alexander can rouse these emotions in readers by merely reciting disturbing facts from our nation's history and appealing to logos. She repeatedly states that a form of racial oppression (so far in our history) only dies to be replaced by another, more subtle form. For example, slavery was replaced by the cruel Jim Crow laws, and those were replaced by today's methods of incarcerating black people and then being justified in discriminating against them. She tells few anecdotes and mentions few names, but her point that change and justice need to come about now gets across all the same.
Despite the fact that I have roughly 60 more pages to read before my next blog post is due, I am happy with my choice of The New Jim Crow and I am enjoying how this book is capable of opening my eyes and my mind to the world around me. And I mean the whole world, not just the safe and comfortable place that I have come to enjoy as a result of my skin color.
I'm glad that you're enjoying this book! I read it this past summer and, despite (as you noted) being largely factual and almost entirely driven by logic, it made me feel a lot of things. Michelle Alexander has a really interesting background, as well, and her way of writing may be dense but you can tell how intelligent she is.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your first blog post! I think it was a great idea to give some background on the author, and I admire the fact that you took extra time to do research on her before writing this. I also like that you discussed your own experiences and perspective on this issue coming from a very different background. I found it very time-consuming to read through all of the dense background details too, but I'm hoping this will become less difficult as we move through the book and leave the history chapter. One thing that could be helpful to add to your next blog post, for those who have not the book, is either a bit more of a summary of the material or direct quotations. As someone who has read this, I know what sections you are referencing, but it might be interesting to read some of the surprising facts you learned in the first 40 pages (though this also could be an incentive for them to pick up the book themselves). Overall, I thought you did a really nice job on your first post, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on the chapters to come!
ReplyDelete-Myah
Hello Grace,
ReplyDeleteI am excited we are reading the same book! And interestingly, we have made some of the same connections. You mentioned Michelle Alexander's lack of pathos, and I definitely agree with you there. I think that it is quite interesting that she is able to "rouse these emotions" while primarily appealing to ethos and logos. I wonder how Alexander was able to keep herself from including emotion in such an emotional and infuriating topic. I predict that later in the book she will be able to include more emotion, but for now she is remaining with her appeals to logos. Do you think that this style of writing is more persuasive or would using pathos better support her argument?
I really liked how you included your personal statement of how you are rarely exposed to diversity. Living in Hopkinton, New Hampshire I feel as though I am shielded from the reality of racism. The only way I am really able to learn about it is through the media. I am glad that I have the opportunity to educate myself through this book and to be able to share some of the same thoughts with you. I can't wait to keep reading your blog!
Ellie Morrall
Thanks Ellie! I definitely agree with your prediction that she will utilize pathos more as the book continues; my guess is that she is setting the stage right now for what is to come later. I think that the way she is handling her writing style is certainly working in being persuasive at this point because of her clear extensive research and knowledge about the topic; however, I think that pathos would help fuel her later arguments about what is going on in the world of mass incarceration today. Thanks for reading!! I am also exciting to be reading the same book :)
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