The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness  By Michelle Alexander

“The New Jim Crow" is now part of the lexicon of racial inequality analysis and racial justice advocacy due to Michelle Alexander’s book.  A civil rights lawyer, legal scholar and activist, she looks at the racial dimensions of policing and imprisonment in the US and argues that the criminal justice system enforces a racial caste system.  While the book is a carefully researched legal and social analysis, it is far from cold or clinical; Alexander also makes an impassioned plea for greater compassion - for all of us to care more about the people our criminal justice systems nets through discriminatory policing and campaigns, like the War on Drugs, the people it locks into cages in the millions, the people whose rights and chances it curtails or eliminates even after they are technically "freed" from imprisonment.  

Compiled below are some links to articles, sites and more, on topics and recent events related to what is covered in the book.  Reading these articles is not required; they are for our reference and to help us make connections. If you have not had time to read the book, checking out a few of the links may be useful, perhaps starting with the New Jim Crow website, which summarizes the book's argument.

Update [11/15/14]: If you read one thing along with or instead of the book, read this Huffington Post article, which pulls together everything: Ferguson, the New Jim Crow, systemic, institutionalized racism.

Stats on incarceration and felon disenfranchisement:

The website of the Sentencing Project, headed by Mark Mauer, whose reports are cited throughout The New Jim Crow, is an excellent resource, with the latest stats on people in prison (2.2 million) and those out of prison but disenfranchised. It has a good, brief review of Prop 47, the sentencing reform measure we passed in California in this month's election.

Sentencing and imprisonment of women:

Women of color are victims of discriminatory policing and sentencing, along with men; the case of Marissa Alexander in Florida is a recent, prominent example.  Women inmates were sterilized without their consent in California prisons, and due to pressure from activist groups like Justice NOW, the state recently instituted restrictions on sterilization; but women incarcerated during their reproductive years are effectively barred from parenting.  Women who have police records may be especially vulnerable to police abuse, as suggested by the recent case of the Oklahoma City cop who serially sexually assaulted African American women with records.

Militarization of police and overpolicing:

Ahead of the grand jury decision on the killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, St Louis (STL) police are spending big money on riot gear, including tear gas grenades and rubber bullets, which they used along with drones and armored carriers during the Ferguson protests in August.  Stockpiling of military gear by police departments around the US has been going on for some time, and Rodney Balko has traced the history of this in a major book.  HRW had researchers on the ground during the height of the Ferguson protests; it issued reports on police intimidation of protesters and a letter calling on Missouri's governor to review the law enforcement responses.

Criminalization of communities of color and men of color:

The Ferguson protests, ongoing, are a response not only to Mike Brown's killing but also to general, daily mistreatment of the community by the police, which the Department of Justice is investigating. This report reveals how some STL municipalities fund themselves by serially fining low-income people, mainly African Americans, effectively criminalizing poverty.  Khalil Gibran Muhammad wrote an important book on the criminalization of black communities. On the fear of black men, Jamelle Bouie's article is brief and excellent; and on the worth of black men, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts’ piece is powerful and eloquent.

  

Implicit bias:

Bouie's article references implicit bias, as does Alexander's book.  Studies reveal that while people may not consciously think they have racial bias, it may operate on an unconscious level.  The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University is leading research on implicit bias, which impacts policing, school discipline, employment and even health care. Implicit bias has been shown to figure into doctors' perceptions of black patients' pain, and in how much pain medication doctors prescribe to children.

Myth of colorblindness:

Implicit bias studies also help to debunk the myth of colorblindess.  Race remains a real determinant in the contexts named above and more, so claiming not to see it or refusing to see it denies individual and collective experiences of discrimination based on race—and our nation’s history. And talking about or considering race is not in itself discriminatory (or racist): Justice Sonia Sotomayor had to explain this to Chief Justice John Roberts. In Ebony, Jamilah Lemieux gave a woman of color's view on "colorlessness" and the imaginary “post-racial.”

School-to-prison pipeline and juvenile justice:

LA Unified School District has recently taken measures to reduce criminalized school discipline, the source of the school-to-prison pipeline.  Elizabeth Calvin, Senior Children's Rights Advocate based at HRW's LA office, is a leader in the fight for reforms in the California juvenile justice system.  Chicago-based anti-incarceration activist Miriame Kaba's Project NIA site and US Prison Culture blog are invaluable resources on criminalization and incarceration of youth, and on youth activism in response.

Alternatives to punitive justice:

Project NIA also advocates for the abolition of prisons.  Prison abolitionists, many of them feminists, argue that prisons themselves are a form of violence and that we can find an alternative to our current punitive model in a community-based, transformative approach. Restorative justice is another model aimed at reducing or preventing incarceration, especially of youth.

Malala: Who is Malala?

In April, we will read the book I Am Malala: The Girl who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban, co-written with Malala Yousafzai by British journalist Christina Lamb. At first glance, you may think that you have read this story (just with a minor shift in specific details) before. If you are not familiar with this particular story, there are several in-depth articles you can read: Vanity Fair, the Guardian, the New York Times and more. The topic certainly has been covered from many angles.

This book should, however, inspire some important and timely discussions. As the political and military gaze of the USA and other leaders shifts toward Ukraine, Venzuela, and continues to try to avoid Syria, people in Pakistan and the greater region are still struggling with the questions (women's rights, freedom of expression, fundamentalist terror groups, corrupt governments) that covered the headlines and often justified intervention.

In the past, we read Three Cups of Tea (since then, Greg Mortenson and hist NGO have been discredited). The larger point at issue is that education, and education of girls as well as boys, is one of the most important things that any society can do to improve security and well-being into the future. There are plenty of other groups successfully leading the way in this area: the Agha Khan Development Network, Room to Read, and others. This issue and related challenges are long standing, and will remain important for the long term.

Malala's story is also an interesting prism through which we might explore two related questions: the first has to do with the way that Malala's authenticity, intelligence, and honor is questioned because of the help she has taken from supporters in the West. Post-colonial third world feminist has confronted these issues over and over again, but they are important and they shape real lives. We can see this in Malala's story. Some argue that Malala is inauthentic and even a stooge of western interests (she won the Sakharov Award, the UN Human Rights Prize, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and won many more) . Malala's story inspired videos and activism all over the world. Claims that 'we are all Malala' can be read either positively as empathetic solidarity or negatively as another example of silencing and usurping of a their world woman's (or girl's) voice. There were two additional girls who were shot on the same bus as Malala, and we rarely hear their stories -- but they are speaking out as well. At the same time, Malala is very eloquent (she had her own blog already, and now she has a website, a book, and the Malala Fund) and has found opportunities to speak: at the Aspen Ideas Festival; on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart; she spoke at the United Nations, and to US President Obama.

The second question is one of representation and voice here in our own backyard: we don't seem to be improving literacy in the USA, and while literacy and gender equity issues are different in the USA, they are extremely important for gender equity. Which leads us to the next issue. While many leaders in the United States are very excited to host a guest lecture from Malala, the United States still lags behind in an appalling way when it comes to voting for and listening to women in government. This gap extends to local politics: representation in Los Angeles city hall for example is appallingly low, and has sparked public debate. If we are (and we should be) so excited about encouraging Pakistan to fight to educate their girls and to listen to their girls, then why aren't we fighting the same fights at home?

Long Walk to Freedom: Mandela's Memoir

Mandela's memoir, stretches from his childhood and early days as a lawyer through his development as a political organizer and freedom fighter, prisoner and world leader.

The Guardian has a beautiful interactive timeline of his life. The Nelson Mandela Foundation is also a great resource for learning more about Mandela.









Key points in his historic life include:
born, July 18, 1918
ran away to Johannesburg, 1941
joined the ANC, 1944
married to Evelyn Mase, 1944 - 1958
Defiance Campaign, 1952
Mandela and Tambo (first black law firm) established, 1952
government bans, arrests, and Treason Trials, 1952 - 1961
married to Winnie Madikizela, 1958 - 1996
Workers Strike, 1961
sentenced to life imprisonment, 1963
President de Klerk released Mandela, 1990
Nobel Peace Prize, 1993
elected first black President, 1994
signed into law a new constitution based on majority rule, 1996
married Graca Machel, 1998
retired, 2004
convened "The Elders", 2007

There's a movie now, too...

National Level
Mandela is widely known as an advocate of women's rights: in 1993, just before Mandela was elected President, South Africa signed the UN Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and in 1995, South Africa ratified the convention under President Mandela. Explicitly noting the key role women had in the past and future of the nation, President Mandela established a National Women's Day in his first years in office.

The new constitution included equality rights and he introduced basic health care access for women at the same time that it established racial equality. South Africa now has many women in leadership positions and scores among the elite countries of the world on gender gap measurements.

At the same time, women still dominate low-wage sectors of the economy, are more likely to be unemployed and poor, and are commonly exposed to violence -- particularly sexual violence and murder. Human Rights Watch has recently reported on violence against LGBT people, and the maternal health care problems faced by many women in the Eastern Cape.

The disparities are shocking. The possibilities for women in South Africa are at polar extremes, from the best (in political participation and careers) to the worst (in economic and personal freedom).

There are activists who argue that this level of violence is a kind of society-wide expression of post-apartheid post-traumatic stress. This might be a concept that is difficult to really accept, until you start considering the context of dominant gender roles for men and women in violent, oppressive states, and the continued economic and social equality struggles that many South Africans face.

Professional Level
Mandela has recognized the participation of women in the anti-apartheid struggle.In his book, he notes the 1956 march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in which 20,000 women protested travel controls on black women.

There is not very much in the early part of the book, however, that is consciously critical of the role of women in his professional life. While many women were part of the struggle, his story of struggle is often very specifically focused on the challenges that he faced (often alone or with other leading men) logistically, strategically, and philosophically.

This clearly changes when he meets Winne.

Personal Level
(work in progress)