Comments (36)

The New Jim Crow

Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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1 to 25 of 36 items
Jun 04, 2023CareyMacaulay rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
"In major cities across the United States, the majority of young black men are under the control of the criminal justice system or saddled with criminal records. But just because the prison label has become normal does not mean that is is…
Oct 03, 2022zenmark29 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The book is very readable and tells an accurate story about the problem with "color blind" laws that are not applied in a color blind manner. Communities in poverty within cities map to non-white populations. Lacking the resources to…
Apr 04, 202112th rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Author constantly states that Jim Crow is very similar to incarceration resulting from the “War on Drugs”. However, they are not even closely the same. Jim Crow applied to mostly all blacks, and some non-blacks. For the most…
Feb 15, 2021
Recommended by Karen
Oct 31, 2020davidgut76 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A horrifying description of the system of mass incarceration that has been created during our lifetimes. It is powerfully written, and I can understand why it is so heavily cited by more recent books on race. Still, it was a bit…
Aug 22, 2020
312 pages
Aug 05, 2020
I would love to see this masterpiece adopted as our town book of the year to read. It would be a jumping off point for much needed discussion and understanding. It's not an easy read. It is dense with information and it is also…
Jul 06, 2020JCLBetM rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Worth reading. While it's a hefty book crammed with too many details for me to adequately remember - I was able to hear and better understand the key thread of how arrests and prison sentences have gravely impacted the Black community.…
Jul 06, 2020Gareldb rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I got a little concerned when the first 10% of the book kept telling me what it was going to tell me. I was going "Just get on with it already." However, once the author got going, I found this book to be a really eye-opening account of…
Jul 05, 2020VaughanPLDavidB rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This was, to me, a shocking revelation of the intention behind the "war on drugs" and mass incarceration. I naively thought it was an ill-conceived attempt to combat a problem that didn't actually exist, i.e. drug use, and the resulting…
Jun 05, 2020mangokirin rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
She keeps saying that if drug use is the same across the races, why do we have a disproportionate amount of people of color serving time for nonviolent drug charges? First of all, the laws in this country are for drug possession, not for…
Oct 31, 2019
I thought this novel definitely gave me a new point of view on my white privilege. I would never say I was oblivious to my white privilege before but after reading this novel I realized how big of a role it plays in my everyday life. I was…
Jun 14, 2019asharples rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A thought-provoking book. Well researched. I no longer claim to be colour blind.
Nov 05, 2018sab101 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This book amazingly explains the inequality in today's justice system. Michelle Alexander is a talented writer that uses realistic reasonings to support her opinions. The New Jim Crow is a highly impactful book that will spark a discussion…
Nov 04, 2018Annabelleraquel rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This book is very thorough on discussing the creation and explanation caste system resulting from the war on drugs. The author does seem to dwell on certain topics and opposing views were not mentioned in the book. It is written…
Sep 22, 2018wschi7767 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
The New Jim Crow massively oversimplifies issues in the American criminal justice system. It is perplexing how this book has received the hype that it has. It essentially cries racism and blames every issue within the system on that…
strangegazelle
Aug 24, 2018strangegazelle rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Exceptionally well-researched look at how mass incarceration in the U.S. has deliberately created a new racial under-caste. It's truthful, timely and in many ways prescriptive - it's one of those books that everyone should read.
Aug 22, 2018brangwinn rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The author says it is meant to be a discussion starter. She is head of the Racial Justice department of northern California's ACLU. Her thesis is that there Jim Crow laws have been replaced with a racial caste system. Her husband a federal…
Jun 28, 2018vm510 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The New Jim Crow is an instant classic of the genre. Since publication, I have seen this book and its arguments cited in so much media I've consumed (books, documentaries, podcasts). I am glad I finally got to experience the source text…
Jun 08, 2018
"Hundreds of years ago, our nation put those considered less than human in shackles; less than one hundred years ago, we relegated them to the other side of town; today we put them in cages. Once released, they find that a heavy and cruel…
Mar 22, 2018KMJ_ rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This is a very important book to read, and I'd recommend it for that reason. I wanted it to say even more though. The book is repetitive, but then glosses over some topics. There could have been more about juveniles being charged as…
Jul 15, 2017
Wow. This book blew me away and helped me to better appreciate the racial challenges we are facing while educating me about important civil right's history I did not know. . Not only does author Michelle Alexander write with coherence…
Jan 18, 2017j_ess_reads rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of the most important books I have read in the last decade. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Oct 22, 2015shayshortt rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the most important thing this book does is break down the differences between the racial hostility and open bigotry that most Americans recognize as racism, and the quieter, more insidious forms of racial bias that are now that…
Sep 26, 2015DorisWaggoner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
For a variety of reasons (including prior employment and volunteer work) I already knew most of the pieces of what Alexander writes about. But she puts those pieces together in a way I hadn't entirely considered before--i.e. War on Drugs…