The statement “We have not ended racial caste in America; we have simply redesigned it” is one that Michelle Alexander embeds in her introduction to her book. this statement is a very powerful one that holds true in many aspects. Michelle Alexander uses the example of the way the Jim Crow Laws oppressed the black community. She states that the new system uses merely just different ways to achieve the same oppression since the actual Jim Crow Laws have been deemed not a law. With the prison system having a large percentage of black felons, it is the new way to keep the black voices from being heard or represented in the government of the U.S. just as the Jim crows had denied generations of black families to vote back then, the same tactics are uses but this time disguised as “democratic ideals”. In this way, the jim crow laws have not been abolished, yet “redesigned” into a new form such as the prison systems and the unjust treatment of felons who are mainly black. In other words, racial systems in the nation have not been ended, they have simply been installed into different aspects of life, allowing racism to live in the core of the nation ages after the issues had been addressed initially.
3 thoughts on “The New Jim Crow”
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I agree with you that the same tactics are present today to deny the black community of certain rights. It isn’t changed, it is simply changed to adapt to time, achieving the same purpose as it did back in the days.
Your statements hold true to all the aspects, in which racism is simply redesigned, not abolished. If in future instances one were to attempt to end racism in any way, individuals would work around it to find new ways to intimidate individuals of color
I think it was extremely powerful that Alexander incorporates this into her introduction. It does an excellent job showing what she will discuss in her book. I also noticed how Alexander is showing how Blacks were oppressed from the Jim Crow Laws, and the same oppression exists today because of the high incarceration rates of Blacks and how they are treated. I found it very interesting that you mention that racism lives in the core of the nation. Even though people claim they are colorblind or not racist, they can be and not even notice.