The New Jim Crow is a book that elucidates the many types of similarities that exists between the former legal systems of Jim Crow and the present practice of accumulated incarceration with regards to the racial minorities.
According to Alexander, most of the individuals in the United States of America who are colored are devastated and targeted by the system of justice of the United States of America. Most of the cases that are brought to court are via the main tool that has been chosen by the authorities to combat the menace to the society.
This main tool has been labeled the war on drugs . It has been misused by the authorities to oppress the minorities in the country. The federal court system has rendered the suits that are based on racial bias ineffective. Alexander (2010) in the introduction of her book wrote:
Knowing as I do the difficulty of seeing what most everyone insists does not exist; I anticipate that this book will be met with skepticism or something worse. For some, the characterization of mass incarceration as a racial caste system may seem like a gross exaggeration, if not hyperbole. (p. 2-5)
Alexander further elucidates the fact that Jim Crow and slavery were caste systems. So is our current system of incarceration (Alexander 2010). This was like in the case of Jim Crow.
Whatever the case, there is an element of legalized discrimination that physically detaches as well as marginalizes a large portion of the African American community.
This is more so, for the ones who are presently in the ghettos as well as in penal institutions. The system then goes ahead and allows for their second-rate treatment in quite a number of areas. In the present day situations, the forming of a separating line amid us and them has been facilitated by the replacement of the disgrace of criminality which has taken over the stigma of race.
The author has been able to bring forth the fact that Americans are quite abashed about the history of race in the country. This is exposed by the fact that the racial and caste systems are still enforced and are quite evident in prisons. The number of African Americans who get imprisoned for drug related incidences is appalling.
This goes to show that the criminal justice system somehow has an affinity for the white folks in the nation. The rate of drug related cases is quite high with the majority of the incarcerated people being African Americans. This is not proportional to the number of white folks in jail for the same reasons.
The belief that an African American is more likely to commit a felon in comparison to a white person is quite misconstrued. A white person is quite likely to commit a felon as much as an African American in the same situation. The color of the skin does not dictate the actions that an individual may perform.
The author argues that in any case, a person of the white race is more likely to commit a drug related felony than an African American because of the belief that he/she may get away with it more easily. This assumption is reliant on the system and the loopholes that it offers for the individual.
Alexander said, The clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like Obama and Oprah Winfrey who have defied the odds and achieved great power, wealth and fame (Alexander, 2010). The author stresses the fact that the system encourages the enhancement of the laws that state that people of color ought to be treated by an entire range of discrimination measures. This is in several aspects such as employment, housing, voting rights etc.
In the book, the author states that she recognized the policies that were being implemented on a large scale regarding the incarceration of masses. These policies were developed quite fast and subsequently implemented with equal speed. The author states that the implementation of the policies was a comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow (Alexander 2010).
Alexander sums up her book by stating the unswerving fact that Once youre labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service are suddenly legal. She goes ahead and further states that As a criminal, you have scarcely more rights, and largely less respect, than a black man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow.
We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it. With this as her basis for an argument, the author firmly states that there is evident progression in the types of racial control . This is necessitated by the evolving situations as well as the modern-day norms. This implies that slavery was replaced by the Jim Crow laws which had been in turn replaced by the present-day criminal justice .
Reference
Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press.
In her book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander explains the challenges that people of color face in modern American society. Her overall thesis from this book is that mass incarceration constitutes a new system of racial oppression akin to slavery and the original Jim Crow (Alexander, 32). She argues that in the current Age of Colorblindness, the unique challenges that people of color faced during the era of Jim Crow laws still persist. The only difference is that the approach taken by people in positions of power has changed. The society is currently using the criminal justice system as a tool to oppress people of color. According to this book, there is a disproportionately high number of blacks incarcerated in various prisons across the country.
War on drugs has been an excellent excuse that law enforcement officers use to ensure that they send these minorities to prison. According to Purnell et al., it is more likely for a black to be taken to court when arrested with a small amount of bhang or marijuana than a white (37). It is also easier to convince the judge and the jury that the black man was doing drugs. In terms of sentencing, a black man is more likely to be given a severe punishment than a white man, even if they committed the same offense. The color of the skin is, therefore, used as a means of defining ones guilt in the current criminal justice system. The main problem is that this form of discrimination has been repackaged as the war on drugs or crime (Adler 38). This strategy has worked so well that even the black community does not realize they are targeted until they become victims of police brutality and the skewed criminal justice system
Significant Cases Discussed in the New Jim Crow and Their Ramifications on Her Thesis
In this book, Alexander argues that American society has entered a new age of legalized discrimination. The language and approaches used have changed over time, but the intent and pain caused to the victims have remained the same. In her book, she has singled out specific cases that explain the era of the New Jim Crow. The following are some of the major cases.
Employment Discrimination
The majority of large corporate institutions and government agencies are owned and managed by whites. The book opines that when employers are presented with a case where they have to choose either a black or a white with similar qualifications, they are more likely to choose white. In some cases, a white would be chosen even if they had an inferior qualification to a black candidate (Austin 11). The reason given would be that the most qualified person was chosen. The truth is that the qualification was based on ones skin color as opposed to ones ability to undertake a specific task. Such discrimination is widespread both in the public and private sectors, and it is packaged in a unique form that fighting it has been a major challenge.
Housing Discrimination
The housing sector is another area where minorities in the United States face massive challenges. In public housing, there is open discrimination against blacks when rolling out various programs. In the final stages of approval, ones race becomes one of the defining factors of whether an individual would be given a house. In the private sector, the problem is even worse, as Austin observes (17). Realtors would deliberately deny a black person an opportunity to buy or rent a house within a given neighborhood primarily because of their race. There is the fear that if the black is given a house in a neighborhood considered exclusively white, there might be an uproar. Some of the current customers may consider leaving the place, while prospective clients would consider buying or renting a house in other places. In an effort to protect their profits and revenue, they would deny an opportunity to live in these neighborhoods.
Denial of the Right to Vote
Alexander argues that blacks form the largest group of disenfranchised voters in the United States. According to Purnell et al., voting is one of the fundamental rights of every American citizen of the right age and of sound mind (51). However, in some parts of the country, there have been deliberate steps taken to ensure that the ability to vote is compromised as much as possible. In some cases, the legality of their voting rights would be questioned, while in other cases, systemic strategies would be used. The goal is to ensure that they do not participate in determining the political leadership of the country. When their votes do not count, it becomes easy for the policy-makers to ignore their plight.
Denial of Educational Opportunity
Education has remained the single most powerful tool for eradicating poverty and empowering the disadvantaged in the society. However, the type of school one attends would define the social networks that they develops and the skills one acquire, which would then play pivotal roles in defining their career success. Some of the best universities in this country, such as Harvard, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and Columbia University, have been accused of bias when admitting students across the country. Austin explains that it is not easy for a poor black student to get admission into these institutions (36). Besides the open bias when selecting students, there is also the challenge of the cost of tuition and other charges, which further limits the ability of poor students to attend these institutions.
Denial of Food Stamps and Other Public Benefits
The United States government has various social protection programs meant to help the very poor members of society. One such program is food stamps, which is meant to ensure that no American citizen would starve (Adler 57). This program is meant for the poorest of Americans and should be issued without any form of discrimination. The problem is that government officials responsible for managing such programs are biased. It is common to find cases where food items are not made sufficiently available to those with food stamps. Such services would be rationed in areas dominated by minorities, especially African Americans (Kilgore 290). Different administrations come to power promising to solve this problem, but most often, they fail to do so.
Exclusion from Jury Service
The book also identifies another challenge with the criminal justice system in the country, which is the exclusion from jury services. It is a common practice for a judge to invite the jury to help in determining whether a suspect is guilty of a crime leveled against them. African Americans are in the best position to understand the plight that their people face and why they would act in a given manner (Austin 78). As members of the jury, they can help to explain events that led to the suspect acting in a given way. Unfortunately, they are rarely chosen to be members of the jury. As such, blacks are left in the hands and at the mercy of whites, who already have informed opinions and are keen on confirming their guilt. When they retire to discuss the case, they start from the point that the suspect is guilty and then focus on finding justifications for the same. It is almost impossible for blacks to get justice in such a system.
Ramifications of These Cases on Her Thesis
These cases, which outline specific ways in which blacks face discrimination, help to reaffirm her thesis. Adler explains that there is always a need to distinguish inflammatory, baseless claims from real challenges that need to be addressed (39). Alexander provides specific cases that can easily be traced and confirmed to explain the New Jim Crow. She makes her case believable by providing information that is already known to American society. For instance, the claim that most of the prestigious universities in the country are out of reach for poor African Americans can easily be confirmed. At Harvey Mudd College, a student is expected to pay $79,539 annually (Ryan 45). The average income in the United States is $63,214, while that of African Americans is $48,297 (Ryan 45). Even if one is willing to pay everything they earn for their childs fee, they cannot afford it. In this case, cost has been used effectively to deny the poor an opportunity to get the best in education.
Personal Reflection on Her Overall
I agree with Alexanders overall thesis because they can easily be confirmed. A good example is the brutal and emotive death of George Floyd in 2020. Derek Chauvin, a white police officer with the authority to arrest, deliberately knelt on Georges neck for about 9 minutes (Reny and Newman 1504). The victims plea that he could not breathe was ignored, and he suffocated to death. The issue was taken seriously by the government, and Derek was convicted, but many believe this was possible because the merciless murder was recorded and shared publicly. Several similar cases where law enforcement agencies use unnecessary excessive force have been witnessed in this country. The problem is that those who commit the crime are the same people who are expected to protect civilians.
I agree with the claims made by Alexander that the New Jim Crow is as effective in persecuting minorities, especially African Americans, as the old forms of discrimination. According to a report by Purnell et al., the highest population group of inmates in the country is blacks, at 33%, while whites account for 30% (34). It is important to note that the total population of blacks in the United States is only 12%, while whites account for 64% (Ryan 45). The statistics show that an African American is six times more likely to end up in prison than a white person is. The trend is worrying because the concentration of police officers in black neighborhoods is significantly higher than in white-dominated neighborhoods. As Alexander puts it, the problem of racism and systemic discrimination is still alive in the country.
Works Cited
Adler, Jeffrey. Murder in New Orleans: The Creation of Jim Crow Policing. University of Chicago Press, 2019.
Alexander, Michelle. New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press, 2012.
Austin, Paula. Coming of Age in Jim Crow DC: Navigating the Politics of Everyday Life. New York University Press, 2019.
Kilgore, James. Mass Incarceration: Examining and Moving Beyond the New Jim Crow. Critical Sociology, vol. 41, no. 2, 2015, pp. 283-295.
Purnell, Brian, et al. The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North: Segregation and Struggle Outside of the South. New York University Press, 2019.
Reny, Tyler, and Benjamin Newman. The Opinion-Mobilizing Effect of Social Protest against Police Violence: Evidence from the 2020 George Floyd Protests. American Political Science Review, vol. 115, no. 4, 2021, pp. 1499-1507.
Ryan, Mary. Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics: Employment Earnings Prices Productivity and Other Labor Data 2021. Bernan Press, 2021.
The New Jim Crow is a book that elucidates the many types of similarities that exists between the former legal systems of Jim Crow and the present practice of accumulated incarceration with regards to the racial minorities.
According to Alexander, most of the individuals in the United States of America who are colored are devastated and targeted by the system of justice of the United States of America. Most of the cases that are brought to court are via the main tool that has been chosen by the authorities to combat the menace to the society.
This main tool has been labeled the “war on drugs”. It has been misused by the authorities to oppress the minorities in the country. The federal court system has rendered the suits that are based on racial bias ineffective. Alexander (2010) in the introduction of her book wrote:
“Knowing as I do the difficulty of seeing what most everyone insists does not exist; I anticipate that this book will be met with skepticism or something worse. For some, the characterization of mass incarceration as a ‘racial caste system’ may seem like a gross exaggeration, if not hyperbole.” (p. 2-5)
Alexander further elucidates the fact that “Jim Crow and slavery were caste systems. So is our current system of incarceration” (Alexander 2010). This was like in the case of Jim Crow.
Whatever the case, there is an element of legalized discrimination that physically detaches as well as marginalizes a large portion of the African American community.
This is more so, for the ones who are presently in the ghettos as well as in penal institutions. The system then goes ahead and allows for their second-rate treatment in quite a number of areas. In the present day situations, the forming of a separating line amid “us” and” “them” has been facilitated by the replacement of the disgrace of criminality which has taken over the stigma of race.
The author has been able to bring forth the fact that Americans are quite abashed about the history of race in the country. This is exposed by the fact that the racial and caste systems are still enforced and are quite evident in prisons. The number of African Americans who get imprisoned for drug related incidences is appalling.
This goes to show that the criminal justice system somehow has an affinity for the white folks in the nation. The rate of drug related cases is quite high with the majority of the incarcerated people being African Americans. This is not proportional to the number of white folks in jail for the same reasons.
The belief that an African American is more likely to commit a felon in comparison to a white person is quite misconstrued. A white person is quite likely to commit a felon as much as an African American in the same situation. The color of the skin does not dictate the actions that an individual may perform.
The author argues that in any case, a person of the white race is more likely to commit a drug related felony than an African American because of the belief that he/she may get away with it more easily. This assumption is reliant on the system and the loopholes that it offers for the individual.
Alexander said, “The clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like Obama and Oprah Winfrey who have defied the odds and achieved great power, wealth and fame” (Alexander, 2010). The author stresses the fact that the system encourages the enhancement of the laws that state that people of color ought to be treated by an entire range of discrimination measures. This is in several aspects such as employment, housing, voting rights etc.
In the book, the author states that she recognized the policies that were being implemented on a large scale regarding the incarceration of masses. These policies were developed quite fast and subsequently implemented with equal speed. The author states that the implementation of the policies was a “comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow” (Alexander 2010).
Alexander sums up her book by stating the unswerving fact that “Once you’re labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination – employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service – are suddenly legal.” She goes ahead and further states that “As a criminal, you have scarcely more rights, and largely less respect, than a black man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow.
We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” With this as her basis for an argument, the author firmly states that there is evident progression in the types of “racial control”. This is necessitated by the evolving situations as well as the modern-day norms. This implies that slavery was replaced by the Jim Crow laws which had been in turn replaced by the present-day “criminal justice”.
Reference
Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press.
In her book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander explains the challenges that people of color face in modern American society. Her overall thesis from this book is “that mass incarceration constitutes a new system of racial oppression akin to slavery and the original Jim Crow” (Alexander, 32). She argues that in the current Age of Colorblindness, the unique challenges that people of color faced during the era of Jim Crow laws still persist. The only difference is that the approach taken by people in positions of power has changed. The society is currently using the criminal justice system as a tool to oppress people of color. According to this book, there is a disproportionately high number of blacks incarcerated in various prisons across the country.
War on drugs has been an excellent excuse that law enforcement officers use to ensure that they send these minorities to prison. According to Purnell et al., it is more likely for a black to be taken to court when arrested with a small amount of bhang or marijuana than a white (37). It is also easier to convince the judge and the jury that the black man was doing drugs. In terms of sentencing, a black man is more likely to be given a severe punishment than a white man, even if they committed the same offense. The color of the skin is, therefore, used as a means of defining one’s guilt in the current criminal justice system. The main problem is that this form of discrimination has been repackaged as the war on drugs or crime (Adler 38). This strategy has worked so well that even the black community does not realize they are targeted until they become victims of police brutality and the skewed criminal justice system
Significant Cases Discussed in the New Jim Crow and Their Ramifications on Her Thesis
In this book, Alexander argues that American society has entered a new age of legalized discrimination. The language and approaches used have changed over time, but the intent and pain caused to the victims have remained the same. In her book, she has singled out specific cases that explain the era of the New Jim Crow. The following are some of the major cases.
Employment Discrimination
The majority of large corporate institutions and government agencies are owned and managed by whites. The book opines that when employers are presented with a case where they have to choose either a black or a white with similar qualifications, they are more likely to choose white. In some cases, a white would be chosen even if they had an inferior qualification to a black candidate (Austin 11). The reason given would be that the most qualified person was chosen. The truth is that the qualification was based on one’s skin color as opposed to one’s ability to undertake a specific task. Such discrimination is widespread both in the public and private sectors, and it is packaged in a unique form that fighting it has been a major challenge.
Housing Discrimination
The housing sector is another area where minorities in the United States face massive challenges. In public housing, there is open discrimination against blacks when rolling out various programs. In the final stages of approval, one’s race becomes one of the defining factors of whether an individual would be given a house. In the private sector, the problem is even worse, as Austin observes (17). Realtors would deliberately deny a black person an opportunity to buy or rent a house within a given neighborhood primarily because of their race. There is the fear that if the black is given a house in a neighborhood considered exclusively white, there might be an uproar. Some of the current customers may consider leaving the place, while prospective clients would consider buying or renting a house in other places. In an effort to protect their profits and revenue, they would deny an opportunity to live in these neighborhoods.
Denial of the Right to Vote
Alexander argues that blacks form the largest group of disenfranchised voters in the United States. According to Purnell et al., voting is one of the fundamental rights of every American citizen of the right age and of sound mind (51). However, in some parts of the country, there have been deliberate steps taken to ensure that the ability to vote is compromised as much as possible. In some cases, the legality of their voting rights would be questioned, while in other cases, systemic strategies would be used. The goal is to ensure that they do not participate in determining the political leadership of the country. When their votes do not count, it becomes easy for the policy-makers to ignore their plight.
Denial of Educational Opportunity
Education has remained the single most powerful tool for eradicating poverty and empowering the disadvantaged in the society. However, the type of school one attends would define the social networks that they develops and the skills one acquire, which would then play pivotal roles in defining their career success. Some of the best universities in this country, such as Harvard, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and Columbia University, have been accused of bias when admitting students across the country. Austin explains that it is not easy for a poor black student to get admission into these institutions (36). Besides the open bias when selecting students, there is also the challenge of the cost of tuition and other charges, which further limits the ability of poor students to attend these institutions.
Denial of Food Stamps and Other Public Benefits
The United States government has various social protection programs meant to help the very poor members of society. One such program is food stamps, which is meant to ensure that no American citizen would starve (Adler 57). This program is meant for the poorest of Americans and should be issued without any form of discrimination. The problem is that government officials responsible for managing such programs are biased. It is common to find cases where food items are not made sufficiently available to those with food stamps. Such services would be rationed in areas dominated by minorities, especially African Americans (Kilgore 290). Different administrations come to power promising to solve this problem, but most often, they fail to do so.
Exclusion from Jury Service
The book also identifies another challenge with the criminal justice system in the country, which is the exclusion from jury services. It is a common practice for a judge to invite the jury to help in determining whether a suspect is guilty of a crime leveled against them. African Americans are in the best position to understand the plight that their people face and why they would act in a given manner (Austin 78). As members of the jury, they can help to explain events that led to the suspect acting in a given way. Unfortunately, they are rarely chosen to be members of the jury. As such, blacks are left in the hands and at the mercy of whites, who already have informed opinions and are keen on confirming their guilt. When they retire to discuss the case, they start from the point that the suspect is guilty and then focus on finding justifications for the same. It is almost impossible for blacks to get justice in such a system.
Ramifications of These Cases on Her Thesis
These cases, which outline specific ways in which blacks face discrimination, help to reaffirm her thesis. Adler explains that there is always a need to distinguish inflammatory, baseless claims from real challenges that need to be addressed (39). Alexander provides specific cases that can easily be traced and confirmed to explain the New Jim Crow. She makes her case believable by providing information that is already known to American society. For instance, the claim that most of the prestigious universities in the country are out of reach for poor African Americans can easily be confirmed. At Harvey Mudd College, a student is expected to pay $79,539 annually (Ryan 45). The average income in the United States is $63,214, while that of African Americans is $48,297 (Ryan 45). Even if one is willing to pay everything they earn for their child’s fee, they cannot afford it. In this case, cost has been used effectively to deny the poor an opportunity to get the best in education.
Personal Reflection on Her Overall
I agree with Alexander’s overall thesis because they can easily be confirmed. A good example is the brutal and emotive death of George Floyd in 2020. Derek Chauvin, a white police officer with the authority to arrest, deliberately knelt on George’s neck for about 9 minutes (Reny and Newman 1504). The victim’s plea that he could not breathe was ignored, and he suffocated to death. The issue was taken seriously by the government, and Derek was convicted, but many believe this was possible because the merciless murder was recorded and shared publicly. Several similar cases where law enforcement agencies use unnecessary excessive force have been witnessed in this country. The problem is that those who commit the crime are the same people who are expected to protect civilians.
I agree with the claims made by Alexander that the New Jim Crow is as effective in persecuting minorities, especially African Americans, as the old forms of discrimination. According to a report by Purnell et al., the highest population group of inmates in the country is blacks, at 33%, while whites account for 30% (34). It is important to note that the total population of blacks in the United States is only 12%, while whites account for 64% (Ryan 45). The statistics show that an African American is six times more likely to end up in prison than a white person is. The trend is worrying because the concentration of police officers in black neighborhoods is significantly higher than in white-dominated neighborhoods. As Alexander puts it, the problem of racism and systemic discrimination is still alive in the country.
Works Cited
Adler, Jeffrey. Murder in New Orleans: The Creation of Jim Crow Policing. University of Chicago Press, 2019.
Alexander, Michelle. New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press, 2012.
Austin, Paula. Coming of Age in Jim Crow DC: Navigating the Politics of Everyday Life. New York University Press, 2019.
Kilgore, James. “Mass Incarceration: Examining and Moving Beyond the New Jim Crow.” Critical Sociology, vol. 41, no. 2, 2015, pp. 283-295.
Purnell, Brian, et al. The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North: Segregation and Struggle Outside of the South. New York University Press, 2019.
Reny, Tyler, and Benjamin Newman. “The Opinion-Mobilizing Effect of Social Protest against Police Violence: Evidence from the 2020 George Floyd Protests.” American Political Science Review, vol. 115, no. 4, 2021, pp. 1499-1507.
Ryan, Mary. Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics: Employment Earnings Prices Productivity and Other Labor Data 2021. Bernan Press, 2021.
Michelle Alexander is an American writer who is known for her deep knowledge in the sphere of law as she works as a civil rights advocate. She has been interested in the issue of racial discrimination and justice for many years already. Her book “The New Jim Crow” is writing that discusses this very topic and its connection with mass incarceration. The author believes that it can be one of the new systems used to control society and affect African Americans negatively even though it seems to make the USA safer for the representatives of the general public.
Alexander (2010) argues that the number of African Americans who are controlled by the criminal justice system becomes higher with time and it exceeds the number of European Americans who are in the same condition. To prove this point of view, she resorts to the information regarding slavery, which reveals that in the middle of the 19th century there were fewer enslaved African Americans than today those who are connected with crimes. The author states that even though all people seem to have the same rights and the US government insists on the initiatives targeted at the spread of diversity and equality, those African Americans who are claimed to be felons face prejudice when dealing with almost all aspects of life, including education, employment, and voting. Thus, Alexander (2010) insists on the fact that the civil rights laws of the 1960s turn out to be ineffective today when being applied to people of color. She goes back to Jim Crow segregation and compares it with the contemporary situation, claiming that they have much in common.
In her book, the author claims that mass incarceration, as well as slavery, maintains a racial caste system, which presupposes the existence of a racial group that holds the subordinate position because of legislation peculiarities and habits that are peculiar to the particular society. Alexander (2010) explains that the caste systems that existed before the abolition of slavery did not change after the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. Even though the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act introduced particular alterations that should have been advantageous for African Americans, they have only redesigned the racial caste system.
To support her argument, the author resorts to the events from the past, analyzing them, and adding personal analysis. For example, she states that the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 presupposed different punishments for African Americans and European Americans even though this information was not vivid. She claims that the punishment meant for those who were accused of crimes connected with crack was more severe than the one for those who were associated with powder cocaine. Such discrepancy turned into a problem as at that time the representatives of the general public and the criminal system believed crack to be a drug used by the colored people while cocaine was associated with whites. Even though this argument seems to be rather biased, Alexander (2010) managed to add a lot of authoritative information that proves her belief. She introduced quotations and particular facts that revealed the real situation. In addition to that, she provided some examples such as the story told by Judge Stanley Marshall about a mother who was convicted of “possession” of crack. It is also critical to mention that the conclusions made by the author based on this information were not far from reality, as Kurtzleben (2010) supports this point of view.
The professional underlines that in the 20th century and today “the possession of crack can carry the same sentence as the possession of a quantity of cocaine that is 100 times larger” so that “a minimum sentence of 10 years for amounts of crack over 50 grams, versus 5 kilograms of cocaine” (para. 3). What is more, Kurtzleben (2010) adds some data obtained from the US Sentencing Commission, according to which almost 80% of crack offenders who were incarcerated in 2009 were African Americans compared to only 10% of European Americans. Therefore, Alexander’s (2010) argument regarding inequality and discrimination is supported and seems to be true to life. This concession makes the author’s words sound more crucial.
The author shares her ideas further and states that the influences of mass incarceration discussed further are extremely negative especially for the African American population. She pays readers attention to the fact that civil penalties make these people deprived of general necessities connected with housing and education. In particular, Alexander (2010) supports her argument stating that colored people who return to normal life after being incarcerated have no opportunity to live in public housing or obtain student loans. She says that “a criminal freed from prison has scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a freed slave or a black person living ‘free’ in Mississippi at the height of Jim Crow” (Alexander, 2010, p. 271). Even though this claim can be considered hyperbole, the information provided by the author proves it to be at least partially true. Even if a reader can disagree with her words that Americans have a permission to hate those who were incarcerated, they cannot ignore particular examples and historical information, which proves that the approach selected by Alexander (2010) is rather effective.
Finally, the author motivates her readers to establish a grass-roots movement. She believes that it can be rather advantageous on the way to the destruction of the mass incarceration system. She makes her initial argument even more critical saying that “if the movement that emerges to end mass incarceration does not meaningfully address the racial divisions and resentments that gave rise to mass incarceration, and if it fails to cultivate an ethic of genuine care, compassion and concern for every human being […] a new system of racialized social control will emerge” (Alexander, 2010, p. 481). In this way, Alexander makes the readers believe that the issue she discusses is the most significant current and that it requires immediate action.
All in all, it can be claimed that in her book Alexander (2010) managed to prove her argument of mass incarceration to be a tool to control society. It has negative influences on all Americans, but not only African Americans, as the data revealed in the writing and pointed out by NAACP (n.d.) proves that the number of imprisoned people increased with time. Moreover, it can be concluded that mass incarceration makes people more prejudiced and spreads adverse attitudes towards these individuals making the population crueler and less sympathetic because they tend to hate all offenders without considerations.
References
Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press.
Kurtzleben, D. (2010). Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing. Web.
In the second chapter, Michelle Alexander uses the War on Drugs to demonstrate the rot and weaknesses in the American criminal justice system. From the onset, Alexander debunks the made-for-TV criminal justice system myth by outlining the harsh realities on the ground, such as the incapacity of the system to conduct full-blown trials of guilt or innocence, acceptance of plea bargains to avoid severe mandatory sentences and unjustified police searches in the name of fighting drugs. The author is clear that the “system of mass incarceration” is fuelled by drug-related convictions that have contributed substantially to the rise in incarceration rates in the country. Although the War on Drugs appears overfunded and overstaffed, it is unable to rid the country of big-time drug dealers or address the issue of dangerous drugs.
Alexander decries how the War on Drugs has diluted the benefits provided by the Fourth Amendment by giving law enforcement agencies sweeping powers to make arbitrary searches and arrests, resulting in the incarceration of millions of American citizens for nonviolent drug transgressions. The Supreme Court is put in the spotlight for aiding the police in conducting unjustified searches and seizures. Americans no longer enjoy the civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution because law enforcement agencies have been given powers to conduct mandatory drug testing and wiretap phone calls regardless of confidentiality considerations. Alexander underscores how the police use unreasonable suspicion and poor excuses to conduct drug searches on innocent people while drug lords walk free. If caught with small quantities of marijuana, these people face severe jail terms due to the abolition of judicial discretion through mandatory sentencing laws. The result is that minor offenders and innocent people end up acquiring the “prison label” due to wanton deficiencies in the criminal justice system.
Personal Reaction
I agree with Alexander’s observation that law enforcement agencies have been given a lot of powers that hamper the rights and freedoms of American citizens as enshrined in the Constitution. Although the War on Drugs is embedded in justifiable causes, it is my submission that such justifications should not be used to harass citizens in the stop-and-search campaigns. Additionally, the author’s argument on plea bargains makes a lot of sense because an effective criminal justice system should have systems that ensure justice for offenders, instead of relying on plea bargains to win convictions. A plea bargain, in my view, does not serve the interests of justice because people may agree to plea to the charges due to pressure or fear of being convicted. I also agree with Alexander’s assertion that the criminal justice system deals with the symptoms rather than the problem. Although the system is keen on convicting small-time drug users, it lacks the capacity to deal with drug lords who are responsible for supplying the drugs.
Personal Application
The most important aspect that can be taken from the reading is how the criminal justice system continues to play an active role in limiting people’s rights and freedoms instead of safeguarding them. In the example of drugs, it is clear that most Supreme Court rulings have justified the use of untenable reasons by law enforcement agencies to search people and make arrests. This predisposition is dangerous as it goes against the laws of natural justice and contributes substantially to the “hardening” of innocent people through prison labeling. The information has provided me with useful insights on how the criminal justice system can be remodeled to achieve effectiveness in the dispensation of its mandate. A good starting point would be to lobby Congress to enact laws and regulations that will ensure people are not profiled based on unreasonable suspicions and poor excuses.
The United States went through a bloody civil war that permanently changed American politics and social and economic trends that existed before the war. In 1865, the civil war ended and slavery was abolished with the thirteenth amendment1. The civil war had come with a heavy price to the rebellious southern states whose economy was badly damaged and needed crucial assistance from the federal government. This ushered in the reconstruction period when southern states sought to join the union again2.
Jim Crow Laws in the Reconstruction Era
Scholars differ on the era during which Jim Crow laws were enacted and implemented. However, there is consensus among many of them that the genesis of Jim Crow laws was during the reconstruction period and they formally ended in the 1965 with the Supreme Court declarations that segregation was unconstitutional3.
To understand Jim Crow laws, it is important to note that most Southern States were agricultural states and heavily dependent on intensive labor that was supplied through slavery. Additionally, the majority of the white population did not like the fact that African-Americans had gained freedom and could then start integrating into the wider American society4. It is possible therefore that the origin of Jim Crow laws emanated from the protection of freed slaves by federal authorities.
Precisely, political leaders, mainly supported by the Democratic Party and implemented with the support of violent groups such as the Ku Klux Klan that made voter registration difficult and restrictive to African-Americans and poor sections of the white population passed Jim Crow laws5. A combination of poll taxes, literacy tests and record-keeping requirements ensured African-Americans and poor whites and any other people deemed to be supporting black empowerment did not vote.
Southern states quickly moved to curb the newfound freedom of black people by enacting both state and local laws that ensured de jure racial segregation6. The laws, also referred to as black codes appeared neutral on the surface but in reality, they were repressive towards black people and were meant to take them back to their pre-war status as slaves. Jim Crow laws ensured that African-Americans led an inferior life to those of whites. There was blatant discrimination in the education system, political representation, public services and employment.
The People Affected
There is consensus that Jim Crow laws mainly affected African-Americas in the southern states. However, in the pursuit of segregation of the American population by southerners, a big chunk of the white population was also affected. As highlighted earlier, applying the same repressive laws on poor whites became the norm in the south.
Resolution
Despite the strong application of the Jim Crow laws during the reconstruction era especially by southern democrats, changing social trends and the growing need for equality in the US helped turn the tide against them. Whether or not the Jim Crow problem was solved is debatable. However, over time, there has been piecemeal resolution to the Jim Crow problem through the courts and public agitation. The United Supreme Court has in the last two centuries struck down a number of Jim Crow laws on the grounds of being unconstitutional. As a result, segregation in residential areas and in public transport was outlawed in 1917 and 1945 respectively7.
Besides the courts, there was public agitation for equality, which effectively aimed at challenging the setting brought by Jim Crow laws. One of the most enduring acts of rebellion as a result of Jim Crow laws was the Rosa Parks incident that led to widespread boycotts of the bus transport system in various parts of the U.S.8. The epitome of public action against Jim Crow however was the movement that was led by Reverend Martin Luther Kind Jr., which eventually culminated, to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the US and especially the southern states have made progress as far as abolition of Jim Crow laws is concerned. All Americans are now treated equally. While this is the case, some scholars argue that segregation is still rife in the U.S. but not confined to the southern States only.
Some scholars believe there is a new form of segregation that mainly targets minority communities in the US especially through the corrections system9. In their opinion, overt segregation was re-designed to become mass incarceration of the minorities, which according to them is as effective as the Jim Crow segregation itself. Concisely, the 21st century United States may not be perfect as far as race relations are concerned. However, it is important to acknowledge that there has been tremendous progress made on that front and race relations are far much better than they were during the Jim Crow era, both in the North and South.
Bibliography
Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: Routledge, 2010.
Johnson, Kimberley. Reforming Jim Crow: Southern Politics and State in the Age Before Jim Crow. London: Sage Publications, 2010.
Tischauser, Leslie. Jim Crow Laws. New York: Springer, 2012.
Footnotes
Leslie Tischauser, Jim Crow Laws (New York: Springer, 2012), 184.
Leslie Tischauser, Jim Crow Laws (New York: Springer, 2012), 184.
Kimberley Johnson, Reforming Jim Crow: Southern Politics and State in the Age Before Jim Crow (London: Sage Publications, 2010), 376.
Michelle Alexander, The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness (New York: Routledge, 2010), 288.
Michelle Alexander, The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness (New York: Routledge, 2010), 288.
Kimberley Johnson, Reforming Jim Crow: Southern Politics and State in the Age Before Jim Crow (London: Sage Publications, 2010), 376.
Leslie Tischauser, Jim Crow Laws (New York: Springer, 2012), 186.
Leslie Tischauser, Jim Crow Laws (New York: Springer, 2012), 186.a
Michelle Alexander, The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness (New York: Routledge, 2010), 290.
America has taken a long route on the way to what is being called equality and equal rights, especially when it comes to race. Most of the problems black people encountered throughout the lifespan of American history were of national importance. The United States has struggled to build a union that is perfect or, at least, somewhat close to perfect, and that reflects in history. Nonetheless, the United States has taken the road of development and exerts strong efforts to achieve what has been missing for a long time. The improvements are visible but the problem of racial inequality still exists and requires national attention as African Americans are more likely to live in poverty, have a worse education than whites, and are imprisoned at a rate six times that of whites, which indicates that the racial gap is not yet closed, and there is a lot of work to be done.
For 83 years, Jim Crow laws parted American people by race in more than 20 states. One of the most important issues was that most American cities and states people lived in isolated vicinities and went to schools that were solely white or black. Another issue was that Jim Crow laws made it unlawful for anyone getting married to someone of another race and commanded that business owners dispersed their customers by skin color and secured their right to reject service to people legitimately because of their race. Jim Crow laws were designed to cast off the liberty and equality of African Americans as they did not have “human rights” because they were not part of the human race. They were brutes and aliens coming straight out of the wilderness (Tischauser 11). Cole and Ring claim that “the story of race as it was lived in the Jim Crow era was in part a matter of place and of time and the United States was not all of a piece, nor was the South” (44) and, at that time, it was a universal truth.
One of the biggest civil rights problems in America in times of Jim Crow Policy was about the status of its black minority and role of gender. There was a time when rape was not treated as a serious crime where the victims were black women, and the suspected attackers were white males. There is a long history of gender and race stereotypes that portrayed black women as accessible and disposed to crime. This kind of discrimination put black women at greater risk of sexual attack and made them defenseless towards the charges against them. Poor women were “erased” from society had no chance of accusing the criminal of rape because courts were reluctant to prosecute the offender. The fact of impunity has virtually guaranteed that authorities would turn a blind eye to the perpetrators (Sani 151). In our days, gender still plays a huge role in the perception of black people (especially in terms of disrespect for black women), and a lot of black members of LGBTQQI are still not tolerated by the community. From intermarriage to cohabitation, from restaurants to prisons – white people were always separated from the people of color in each and every aspect of life and nowadays the society is still divided, despite the efforts made to improve the situation.
As an adequate reaction to inequality and belittling of black population’s dignity, different civil rights movements have appeared. According to Griffith, civil rights movements “became a task of work to create a perfect union” (31). The most well-known and recognizable movement is the one called Black Power. This movement questioned the wisdom and decency of the government (Jim Crow Policy as well) as one of the goals was to initiate black people’s way towards progress and prosperity. The Black Power appeared as a response to violence towards black people, yet at the moment, we witness not so many cases of police brutality mostly due to the fact of insufficient public resonance. Many of the movement’s frontrunners arose from the middle class, but the majority of the movement were regular people. A lot of those ordinary people sacrificed their lives for the sake of a greater motive. The Black Power received a moderate response from both the government and the nation, as the changes proposed by the leaders of the movement were too radical. Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, The Black Power overruled the bravery and tolerance of Martin Luther King’s approach that implied a diplomatic response to the inequality.
The impact of the protests, both violent and nonviolent, became tangible as the number of protestants grew and the question of inequality became not of local importance but national. The significance of the movement echoes the idea that implied that blacks would be willing to grieve the disgraces of racial discrimination to show their ability to love even in a situation when they are openly hated and humiliated. But this kind of behavior was more of an approach to start up a peaceful confrontation and not a plea to white people to accept black people on identical terms just because they had morals and principles, too (Harris 192). Black Power movement unleashed fundamental criticism of American society’s dominant standards and values, and black people were, in turn, openly criticized for mimicking white values and culture rather than accepting and appreciating their own.
Compared to Jim Crow Policy, Black Power movement became the antipode for the latter as it presumed and emphasized civil rights, even as it was asserted and systematized around black autonomy within a background of being both black and American. It was an integration of two apparently opposing views – black autonomy and racial assimilation – that counterfeited a new politics which saturated a new America. What is more, it was Black Power, not a daydream of a racially unified America, that eventually became a predominant expression among African Americans (Bell 12). Currently, another movement has become popular among the people of America and is called #BlackLivesMatter. It is a movement that questions people for ethical and politically aware involvement in a world where black people are steadily under attack. It is a statement of black people’s value to the culture, humankind, and a proof of flexibility in the face of fatal harassment.
Racism and gender or racial inequality have always been substantial problems for any society. This paper dwelled on how momentous the racism was to the United States and performed an analysis of the most prevalent cases of gender and racial discrimination of black Americans, comparing the Jim Crow policy to the reactionary movements. This paper also sheds some light on the Black Power movement and explains its background, reasons for its apparition and considers the consequences of the emergence and the development of the movement. After investigating the subject of Civil Rights of African Americans and their role in the United States formation, it can be concluded that African Americans are an integral part of American culture and, despite all the difficulties, American Society is committed to and will strive for racial and gender equality in all spheres of everyday life no matter how hard it is going to be, and how many obstacles are going to be overcome on the way to the bright future.
Works Cited
Bell, Joyce. The Black Power Movement and American Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. Print.
Cole, Stephanie and Natalie Ring. The Folly of Jim Crow: Rethinking the Segregated South. Arlington, TX: University of Texas, 2012. Print.
Griffith, Joanne. Redefining Black Power. Reflections on the State of Black America. San Francisco: City Light Books, 2012. Print.
Harris, Fredrick. The Price of the Ticket. Barack Obama and Rise and Decline of Black Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Sani, Shehu. Hatred for Black People. Bloomington: XLIBRIS, 2013. Print.
Tischauser, Leslie. Jim Crow Laws. Denver, CO: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print.
This is an autobiographical account of Richard Wright, a Negro boy who lived in America during the Post-Civil War days when the lives of the people were ruled over by Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow is the practice or policy of segregating Negroes in public places, public conveyances, and the like. Wright’s first lesson on how to live as a Negro took place when he was quite small. (Wright, n.d.)
He remembers that his house stood behind the railroad tracks in a neighborhood without a touch of green. Instead, what surrounded his home was a yard full of paved cinders. Cinders made fine weapons in hot wars which the children played. At first, it was fun. Richard never realized the appalling disadvantage of a cinder environment until one day when his gang found itself in a war with white boys who lived beyond the tracks.
As usual, Richard’s gang laid down their cinder barrage, but the white boys retaliated with a bombardment of broken bottles. The whites had the advantage of having places to hide- behind trees, hedges, and the sloping embankments of their lawns; whereas the black boys had no such fortifications.
During a retreat that followed, a broken milk bottle hit Richard behind the ear, opening a deep gash that resulted in a hemorrhage. The black army, demoralized, scurried home, leaving Richard immobilized. Fortunately, a kind neighbor rushed him to a doctor who took three stitches on his neck.
Arriving home, the boy, nursing his wound waited for his mother to arrive from work. He felt that a grave injustice had been done to him. Throwing cinders was fun, but throwing broken bottles was dangerous.
When night fell and his mother returned; he babbled out the story, expecting a little sympathy. Instead, she slapped him, dragged him inside the house, stripped him naked, and beat him till he developed a high fever while imparting what he calls “gems of Jim Crow wisdom.” He was never to throw cinders again nor to fight white folks again. Didn’t he realize that she worked so hard each day in the hot kitchens of the whites in order to put food on the table? It would never do to antagonize them. She ended by telling him he should be thankful they didn’t kill him.
This was not a case of “Spare the rod and spoil the child,” but of sparing the rod and subjecting the boy to a future that could include cruelty and even premature death. His mother was right. From then on, the charm of cindery wore off; and the trees, trimmed hedges, and cropped lawns surrounding the white houses became for him a symbol of fear. Richard’s painful experience paved the way for his acceptance and adjustment to the condescending ways of white folk.
Much later, the family moved from Arkansas to Mississippi and was lucky to live in the heart of the local Black Belt where there were black churches, black schools, and black groceries. But this did not last. After grammar school, Richard had to find a job for his mother could no longer support him. His first job was with an optical company in Jackson where he was interviewed and looked over as a prize poodle. The owner hired him and introduced him to his co-workers, a white man of thirty-five named Pease, and a white teenaged boy named Morris. They were to help the newcomer adjust and teach him the ropes. His salary would be five dollars weekly for he was not learning anything about the mechanics of grinding lenses. When he asked Morris about it, the latter blew up, “What yuh tryin’ to, nigger, git smart?” he asked. Then Richard went to Pease and received another humiliating answer. They told him, “This is a white man’s job around here and you better watch yourself!”
From then on, they changed toward him. Then one day, both accused him of calling Mr. Pease just Pease. Morris grabbed Richard by the collar, ramming his head against the wall. Morris told him, “I heard you call him Pease, ‘n if yuh say didn’t, yuh’re callin’ me a lie, see?” He waved a steel bar menacingly. Richard was damned if he said he did and damned if he didn’t. Finally, he had to leave. They warned him not to show up again or tell the boss.
When Richard told the folks at home, they refused to see his side. They called him a fool and told him never again to exceed his limits. When you are working for white folks, you get to “stay in your place.”
Richard learned his next Jim Crow lesson on his next job which was portering in a clothing store. One morning, while polishing the brass outside, the boss and his twenty-year-old son got out of their car and dragged a Negro woman into the store. A policeman stood nearby unconcernedly. After a while, shrill screams emanated from the rear of the store, and later, the woman stumbled out crying and bleeding. Outside, the policeman nabbed her on the charge of being drunk and hurled her into a patrol wagon. What hope is there for a colored citizen living in a place where the very persons hired to keep law and order are the same ones who violate the law?
When Richard entered the store, father and son were laughing. The floor was bloody, and seeing that Richard was shocked, they explained, “Boy, that’s what we do to niggers when they don’t pay their bills.” At noon that day, Richard recounted the incident to his fellow porters who never registered any surprise. One of them asked, “Huh, is that all they did to her?” Hell, it’s a wonder they didn’t lay her once they got through.” This is a clear example of total disregard for human rights as well as total disrespect for womanhood.
Richard was learning his Jim crow lessons, but apparently not fast enough. One day while delivering packages in the suburbs, he punctured his bicycle tire. As he walked his bicycle along, a car stopped and a white man called out, “What’s the matter, boy?” Richard told him and was offered a ride. When the car started, he saw that it was full of young men drinking. He was offered a drink, demurred, but failed to say “sir” to the man. For that, he was hit between the eyes with an empty whiskey bottle.”Nigger, ain’ yuh learned no better sense ‘n that yet, to say sir to a white man?” They left with the “comforting words”, “Nigger, you’re a lucky bastard, ’cause if you’d said the ‘t somebody else, yuh might have been a dead nigger now.” This is an example of an already subordinate people unable to defend themselves from further abuse.
Negroes living in the South dread the idea of being caught alone in the streets in white neighborhoods after sundown, unlike the whites who go unmolested. One Saturday night, Richard made some deliveries in a white neighborhood. He was pedaling furiously when a police car jammed him into the curb. The policeman ordered him to dismount and put up his hands. They found nothing incriminating. They left after admonishing him, “Boy, tell your boss not to send you out in white neighborhoods this time of the night.”
Richard’s next job was as a hall boy in a hotel. Here, his Jim Crow education broadened and deepened. When the bellboys were busy, he was often called to assist them. Many of the rooms were occupied by prostitutes, naked most of the time. The bellboys’ presence awoke in them no sense of shame, for the former were not regarded as humans.
Once, Richard was called to wait upon one of the women. She and her partner were in bed together and uncovered. She said she wanted some liquor, slid out of bed to get money from the drawer. As Richard watched her, “Nigger, what in hell you looking at?” the white man asked. “Nothing”, he replied. “Keep your eyes where they belong, if you want to be healthy!” was his advice.
One night, a Negro maid and Richard fell in to walk part of the way home together, since she lived in his direction. As they passed the night watchman, he slapped her bottom and stared at Richard. Suddenly, he pulled his gun and asked, “Nigger, don’t you like it?” Richard was forced to assent. Later, ashamed to face her, he walked ahead of her. She caught up with him and said, “Don’t be a fool, yuh couldn’t help it!”
The two aforementioned happenings taught Richard to always keep his ‘urts about him in order to survive and to do so without losing respect for himself and his fellowman. Richard learned his Jim Crow lessons well enough to keep his hotel job until he left Jackson for Memphis. In the new place, he applied for a job in an optical company and was hired. Here, his Jim Crow education assumed a different form. It was not longer brutally cruel, but subtly cruel. Here he learned to lie, steal, to dissemble: He learned to play that dual role that every Negro must play in order to survive.
In the process of development from youth to maturity, moral or otherwise, Richard underwent various experiences that smacked “man’s inhumanity to man.”
Richard’s hunger for knowledge was satisfied in the following manner: One day, he mustered enough courage to ask one of his white co-workers to help him get books from the library in his name. He would write a note to the librarian saying, “Please help this nigger boy have the following books.” And then Richard would sign in with the white man’s name. If any of the white patrons suspected that some of the volumes had been in the house of a nigger, they would not have tolerated it at all. The acquisition of education was never so difficult for an underprivileged black youngster.
This autobiographical sketch of Richard Wright is by no means a singular experience but the general rule. The evidence that ensues, reveals the nature of life led by the Negroes in the South. “At the end of the Civil War, the Southern labor system was totally disrupted by the freeing of four million slaves. To most Southerners, more than ever, making a simple living became a daily struggle.” (Washington, 1978).
It is no wonder that Richard Wright’s mother was desperate in keeping her job as a cook for the whites, to a point where she was forced to subject her son to severe child harassment – undue punishment for such a young person. Yet, this mother was very lucky to have been able to hold on to her job despite the high rate of unemployment in those days.
The following comments are drawn from a psychological study done by Charles S. Johnson, a black sociologist and later, president of Fiske University in Nashville, Tennessee. Because the study was sociological and not historical, no dates were given:
“The Negro in his place is really an assistant in the South. He’s what the
Lord Almighty intended for him to be, a servant of the people. We couldn’t get along without him.”
-a former mayor of a North Carolina town
“This is a cotton belt and it is essential that we have Negro labor. When our own runs low, we import it. Our attitude is that the white man is superior and the colored are looked on as servants.”
-a Norfolk club woman
“They should be free, but they are more capable of the domestic arts than the fine arts. All human beings are fashioned to certain places, and theirs is utilitarian rather than artistic. It’s due to their savage background and slavery.”
Black responses to subordination
“White children call me nigger sometimes. I don’t say nuttin ’cause I know I’m a nigger and I don’t want to get in no trouble. My dad always told me not to pay any attention to white children when they meddle me.”
“Let the Negro stay to his self and the white man stay to they self, and they never be no trouble. I don’t want my children to mix with white children. It just ain’t good for white and colored children to mix or for two races to mix.”
“I stay as far away from ‘em as I can. The farther they is from me, the better I like it.”
“I have had it pretty easy with these white people since I have been here. I know just how to get along with them. I can make them think they, own the world. It is nothing but a lot of jive that I hand them… but a man has to be less than a man to get along most of the time.”
In Wright’s autobiographical novel, Native Son, Jake is humiliated by his white supervisor for slow work and Jake turns to one of his black friends, Slim, for support, saying, “The white folks just wants to ride a nigger to death.” Slim answers, “there ain’t nothing a man can do about it.”
From the same work, “It was when Bigger read the newspapers or magazines, went to the movies or walked the streets with crowds, that he felt what he wanted; to merge himself with others and be a part of this world, to lose himself in it so he could find himself, to be allowed a chance to be like others, even though he was black.” (Perez, 2001).
How has Black America progressed since the 1960s? A TV program was held on August 21, 1966, in which civil rights leaders were present. The program soon developed into a lively debate as to whether Black America was making any progress; whether that progress was quick enough; and what the proper methods were to achieve further change.
Floyd McKissick, national director of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) states that “Things have not changed much for the masses. Some progress has been made, but by and large, the average black man has not profited in the last 10 years.”
Blacks have gone far, however toward making their presence felt in the mass media, but once again, the lack of political and economic control has limited the nature and scope of the advance. The future of Black America will probably follow the pattern established during the past decade. The tasks of developing group strengths resisting setbacks, and consolidating and expanding political and economic gains will go on. The outcome – integration, separation, liberation, or some combination of the three is uncertain.
After examining the evidence, we are faced with the problems of how to determine meaningful indexes of progress or change and how to characterize the relationship between Black Americans and White Americans. Our task is to decide which areas are most important in evaluating the progress of Blacks as a whole. Are politics and education the crucial areas? Or are employment, occupational diversification, and family structure?
As in his autobiography and fiction, the belief that subordinated groups have the capacity to resist their ideology–saturated environment, tempers Wright’s pessimism. As Wright mentions in Black Boy about his own youthful dreams – “Anything seemed possible, likely, feasible, because I wanted everything to be possible…. Because I had no power to make things happen outside of me in the objective world, I made things happen within. Because my environment was bare and bleak, I endowed it with unlimited potentialities, redeemed it for the sake of my own hungry and cloudy yearning.”
Lastly, in Wright’s Blueprint for Negro Writing, 1938, he believes that “No theory of life can take the place of life. The meter may, with disgust and revulsion, depict the horrors of capitalism encroaching on the human being. Or may with hope and passion, depict the faint stirrings of a new and emerging life….His vision need not be simple. The presentation of their lives should be simple, but all the complexity, the strangeness, the magic wonder of life that plays like a bright sheen over the most sordid existence, should be there.”
References
Wright, R. (n.d.) The ethics of living Jim Crow. American Stuff
Wright, R. (1938) Blueprint for Negro Writing
Wright, R. (1940) Native Son. New York: Harper Collins, 1993
Washington, B.T. and Views of Black Contemporaries (1974) The Study of American History, Vol II
Perez, V. (2001) Movies, Marxism and Jim Crow: Richard Wright’s Cultural Criticism.