Argument
Hello, my lovely readers! Welcome back to my fourth (and second to last) post. This time around, I would like to talk about Michelle Alexander's key arguments in the fourth section of the reading (up to page 200) as well as the main argument of The New Jim Crow as a whole. The overarching argument of The New Jim Crow is to acknowledge the caste system (which mainly puts African-Americans on the caste's lowest levels) that has formed in the United States and classify it as terribly racist and an awful breach of the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men are created equal.
I will go into further depth about the argument in the fourth section of the reading, from pages 151 to 200. This section was comprised of the majority of Chapter 4, entitled "The Cruel Hand," and some of Chapter 5, entitled "The New Jim Crow." I had to get a little help from the Internet to learn this, but the phrase "The Cruel Hand" comes from a speech given by Frederick Douglass in 1853, in which he discussed this country by saying that it was a "slavery party" and thrived only on promoting the interests of slavery. The overarching purpose of this chapter is to address the effects of the inequities of incarceration. This involves ex-convicts being unable to truly reenter society because most companies have policies where those who served time are unable to receive services or do business with them. For instance, ex-convicts would have extreme difficulty finding housing or work, remaining in a great deal of unreasonable debt after release from jail, being able to afford food because those involved in drug-related felonies may not receive federal assistance, and voting rights are extremely difficult to hold onto even following release from prison. The argument being made by Alexander in this chapter is that America cannot build and maintain a productive and regularly functioning society if those released from prison, especially from being imprisoned as a result of drug-related crimes, are unable to weave back into society and not given a chance to start anew. One of the most infuriating points Alexander makes is "Upon release from prison, people are typically saddled with large debts - financial shackles that hobble them as they struggle to build a new life." Because ex-convicts are provided with so little money when they exit prison, they are usually unable to pay off their debts and may end up in prison again because of this. How is this inconvenience racially driven, you may ask? Well, as Michelle Alexander discussed earlier in the book, America has gone through many stages of racially oppressing African-Americans, each more covert than the last (slavery, the Jim Crow laws, and today, the new Jim Crow). The new Jim Crow allows for African-Americans to be unfairly incarcerated at a rate much higher than whites, therefore leading to the fact that African-Americans are affected by the unreasonable amounts of debt at a rate that is also higher than whites. Overall in this chapter, Alexander is calling readers to action to deal with these injustices brought on by today's criminal justice system.
The first part of Chapter 5 was also included in this section of the reading. The message and main purpose of this chapter takes a very different turn from the previous. Alexander references a speech given by Barack Obama, drawing attention to the fact that more and more African-American fathers are unable to do their jobs and raise their children because they are in prison, and every time, not nearly enough people notice. She also touches upon something that really made me think: the fact that most white people are often and even unconsciously in denial about the mistreatment and prejudice against African-Americans. That's what I think the whole point of this part of the chapter was, too: make you think about your own life and the impact you do have or could have on others.
I agree with the points that Alexander brings up and the claims she makes that the criminal justice system is anything but equal today. On the other hand, even if I did not agree with her points and claims, it would be hard for me to back up any opposing view because of the statistics, facts, and personal anecdotes (which she included more of as I continued reading the book) that the author includes in The New Jim Crow to back up her own argument. As I mentioned in a previous post about rhetorical analysis, Michelle Alexander develops her argument through appeals to ethos and logos, and also her use of sentence structure.
Thanks so much for reading this rather lengthy post! All this same, I hope you enjoyed it. I am really enjoying The New Jim Crow thus far, and I hope that those of you who are not reading this book along with me are enjoying your books as well. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! See you for my last post again soon.
Images Cited:
Frederick Douglass. 2018, Wikipedia.
United States Incarceration Rates by Race and Ethnicity. 2010, Pinterest.
I will go into further depth about the argument in the fourth section of the reading, from pages 151 to 200. This section was comprised of the majority of Chapter 4, entitled "The Cruel Hand," and some of Chapter 5, entitled "The New Jim Crow." I had to get a little help from the Internet to learn this, but the phrase "The Cruel Hand" comes from a speech given by Frederick Douglass in 1853, in which he discussed this country by saying that it was a "slavery party" and thrived only on promoting the interests of slavery. The overarching purpose of this chapter is to address the effects of the inequities of incarceration. This involves ex-convicts being unable to truly reenter society because most companies have policies where those who served time are unable to receive services or do business with them. For instance, ex-convicts would have extreme difficulty finding housing or work, remaining in a great deal of unreasonable debt after release from jail, being able to afford food because those involved in drug-related felonies may not receive federal assistance, and voting rights are extremely difficult to hold onto even following release from prison. The argument being made by Alexander in this chapter is that America cannot build and maintain a productive and regularly functioning society if those released from prison, especially from being imprisoned as a result of drug-related crimes, are unable to weave back into society and not given a chance to start anew. One of the most infuriating points Alexander makes is "Upon release from prison, people are typically saddled with large debts - financial shackles that hobble them as they struggle to build a new life." Because ex-convicts are provided with so little money when they exit prison, they are usually unable to pay off their debts and may end up in prison again because of this. How is this inconvenience racially driven, you may ask? Well, as Michelle Alexander discussed earlier in the book, America has gone through many stages of racially oppressing African-Americans, each more covert than the last (slavery, the Jim Crow laws, and today, the new Jim Crow). The new Jim Crow allows for African-Americans to be unfairly incarcerated at a rate much higher than whites, therefore leading to the fact that African-Americans are affected by the unreasonable amounts of debt at a rate that is also higher than whites. Overall in this chapter, Alexander is calling readers to action to deal with these injustices brought on by today's criminal justice system.
The first part of Chapter 5 was also included in this section of the reading. The message and main purpose of this chapter takes a very different turn from the previous. Alexander references a speech given by Barack Obama, drawing attention to the fact that more and more African-American fathers are unable to do their jobs and raise their children because they are in prison, and every time, not nearly enough people notice. She also touches upon something that really made me think: the fact that most white people are often and even unconsciously in denial about the mistreatment and prejudice against African-Americans. That's what I think the whole point of this part of the chapter was, too: make you think about your own life and the impact you do have or could have on others.
I agree with the points that Alexander brings up and the claims she makes that the criminal justice system is anything but equal today. On the other hand, even if I did not agree with her points and claims, it would be hard for me to back up any opposing view because of the statistics, facts, and personal anecdotes (which she included more of as I continued reading the book) that the author includes in The New Jim Crow to back up her own argument. As I mentioned in a previous post about rhetorical analysis, Michelle Alexander develops her argument through appeals to ethos and logos, and also her use of sentence structure.
Thanks so much for reading this rather lengthy post! All this same, I hope you enjoyed it. I am really enjoying The New Jim Crow thus far, and I hope that those of you who are not reading this book along with me are enjoying your books as well. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! See you for my last post again soon.
Images Cited:
Frederick Douglass. 2018, Wikipedia.
United States Incarceration Rates by Race and Ethnicity. 2010, Pinterest.
Hi Grace!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great post! I thought that your use of the graph was really helpful in visualizing the difference in the number of people incarcerated by race. Michelle Alexander seems to be making a very powerful argument overall, and in the section you read. Do you think that there is a way to make the criminal justice system equal without people's prejudices getting in the way?
Thanks Lily! I agree, Alexander is very good at swaying her audience one way or another. I don't think I have a solution to the inequality right now, but I definitely think that raising awareness for the issue will help the cause and make people more inclined to have open minds.
DeleteHi Grace,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the newest installment of your blog. I've actually been waiting for someone to write about this very topic---racial prejudice and our justice system---for awhile now, and I'm glad that you were able to comment on it in your blog post.
Even more so, I loved that you brought in another perspective on the same argument in your discussion of the connection made to an Obama speech. Recently, I saw a New Hampshire Chronicle piece on how jails are trying harder and harder to make it possible for incarcerated fathers to keep in contact with their children. Although the main argument has virtually nothing to do with this idea and more so to do with the fact that these fathers were unfairly incarcerated in the first place, I thought it was an interesting connection.
Was there anything in The New Jim Crow about police brutality?
Thanks so much for your kind comments. That's an interesting point actually, I didn't really think about police brutality! There hasn't been anything thus far in The New Jim Crow about police brutality! I will let you know if I see anything :)
DeleteGrace, you did a nice job discussing the section of the reading, and I appreciate your thought that there might be another side to the issue (which can seem hard to believe given the information Alexander uses). I found this article (https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/09/mass-incarceration-prison-reform/) an interesting response to Alexander's text, though I feel as though both could be seen as biased in their perspectives of the issue. For example, I have often wondered if there are details Alexander isn't including (not for any nefarious reason, but more so that they don't support her point). The fact that you're thinking of the opposing views is a sign of good critical thinking.
ReplyDeleteHi Grace-
ReplyDeleteI really liked this blog post! I loved the fact that you included the explanation of the name of the chapter "The Cruel Hand" because I didn't even notice that or understand what it meant until now! I noticed you mentioned the Barack Obama speech in your post and I actually found that part really interesting in the way Alexander described it. I thought that when she brought up Barack Obama she would be admiring towards him or view him very positively, which I still think she does, but I was surprised when she almost criticized him for doing that speech about black communities and how they need to "step it up" and start being good fathers to their children. It was interesting to me that she included that because I never really considered the affect that it would have if other African-Americans bought into these ideas too, and didn't actually see the problems with our criminal justice system. She brought forth an interesting dilemma with incorporating Obama's speech, and I was thinking a lot about the fact that it almost seems like in order for Barack Obama to win the presidency he almost had to play into these stereotypes of African-Americans and condemn them for not being good fathers, even though Michelle Alexander argues that they were put in that place by our faulty system. It makes me wonder the struggle that African-Americans, or proponents of black rights, must have when involved in politics because they somehow have to stay true to their beliefs, but often if they do so, they'll lose a majority of voters. What do you think should be done about this in regards to politics, particularly regarding condemning the criminal justice system or trying to run against "get tough on crime" movements like Alexander talks about?
Hello Grace, this is a great post!! I really enjoyed how you included graph and picture to keep me interesting and let us see the information in a different way. I think this post was very helpful and informative, after reading all these blogs about this book I am wanting to read it myself. Nice post and I can't wait to read more!!
ReplyDeleteGreetings Grace!
ReplyDeleteI think that your post was very readable and although the book clearly had a lot to say, you were to the point with the main ideas. This made it enjoyable to read and I feel like I understand what your book is all about now. I see you have received many comments already, and they are well deserved. I see you mentioned that "Alexander is calling readers to action to deal with these injustices brought on by today's criminal justice system." Is there anything specific you think should be done? Or possibly anything we could do as citizens to combat this issue?
-Simon S. Page