The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, rather it can only be converted from one form to another. Similarly, racism in America has simply changed from labeling by race to labeling people of color as felons, albeit the part about whether it could be created or destroyed. Now instead of outright excluding and discriminating against African-Americans, they can achieve the same effect through disenfranchisement and racial profiling. In “Introduction to The New Jim Crow“, Michelle Alexander writes exactly that, that “we have not ended racial caste in American; we have merely redesigned it.”
And the worst part is that, we don’t see the criminal justice system as something comparable to Jim Crow. It’s flawed, yes. But Jim Crow-esque? That’s hard for us to wrap our mind around, especially for those who live in an era where Jim Crow laws haven’t been enforced since 1965 (on paper).
In her research, Alexander notes on the Drug War as a particular instance and a propagator of the New Jim Crow. The media enforces and spreads the idea that African-Americans were predominantly crack addicts and dealers, while our criminal justice system incarcerates them. And while studies do show “that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates”, our country imprisons more black youth than white youth. With this stereotype that our black population are more susceptible to drug use and distribution, we are dulled to the idea that there’s something wrong with the racial disparity among mass incarceration. We begin to think it’s normal. Moreover, even when felons are released, they still face series of challenges during their re-entry into society. They are barred from job opportunities, from voting, and from various other public benefits. This is a problem that goes further than just the system being flawed, it’s a problem with hidden sentiment towards people of color. Even in today’s time where there is overwhelming support for movements like BLM, there’s still a long way to go before we’ve rid ourselves of the ingrained racial caste that’s been in place generations before most of us were even born.
First off: The way in which you tied in the laws of thermodynamics was absolutely artistic and nonetheless appropriate given the context of the subject. Often times, a given problem or subject will make more sense when interjected with notions from other disciplines. You also do a beautiful job of weaving in and out of quotes in a clean, organized manner. Furthermore there are a couple of quotes that speak to the truth of the situation at hand. “With this stereotype that our black population are more susceptible to drug use and distribution, we are dulled to the idea that there’s something wrong with the racial disparity among mass incarceration. We begin to think it’s normal.”…You’re dripping gold in your thought process here, as the usage of “dulled” really hammers in Alexander’s argument. Great work!
Your metaphor at the beginning of the writing is definitely one in the same to the problem and holds very true. I also agree with the ideology that we have normalized the discrimination seen during incarceration which must be changed through awareness and just purely, looking at the statistics. As you have also said, only over time and through generations can this problem be solved slowly.