Category: Jim Crow Laws

More than 4 million slaves were living in the United States in 1860 (Muldoon, 2014). These slaves were being worked to death, day and night, under the forcful white Americans. When the Afircan Americans first arrived in 1609, the white colonists thought they were less equal and benethe them because their skin was darker (Muldoon, 2014). White Americans then took charge and began making the African Americans work for them, or they would be beaten and killed (Muldoon, 2014). After the Civil War ended in 1865, slavery ended and the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States of American was creaeted, abloishing slavery (Muldoon, 2014). Although slavery was now a thing of the past, the harmful acts towards Afican Americans was just starting.

Many people knew that the minds and acts of white colonists could not be changed overnight, but the new Civil Rights Act established in 1875, did not leave them with a choice. This Act made it certain that African Americans would be treated equally in all public places such as schools, libraries, and even some private businesses (Muldoon, 2014). However, these things did not stop the acts of white Americans from not letting African Americans get land ownership, wealth, and even education (Muldoon, 2014).

After a newly elected president, Rutherford B. Hays happened in 1877, a group of Southern Democratics, called the “Reedemers,” began passing laws that began separating the lives of white Americans and the African Americans (Muldoon, 2014). African Americans ended up losing any land they were able to get, along with losing voting powers (Muldoon, 2014). Many white business owners disregarded the Civil Rights Act of 1875, by not letting African Americans into their stores (Muldoon, 2014). The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was then ruled “unconstitutional” by the Supreme Court in 1883 (Muldoon, 2014). The laws that were being made to separate the two races were known as the “Jim Crow laws” in 1877 (Muldoon, 2014).

According to the Fortteenth Amendment, African Americans would be getting treated equally, but this did not happen (Muldoon, 2014). The Jim Crow laws passed made it impossible for white Americans and African Americans to ride on the same bus, eat at the same resturants, shop at the same stores, go to the same schools, use the same bathrooms, and many more things. In most cases, the quailty of public services that white Americans had were much nicer (Muldoon, 2014). There were even laws stating that African Americans could not “date, marry, or touch” white Americans (Muldoon, 2014).

Throughout the time of hardships for most of African Americans, some of them tried to rebel against the Jim Crow Laws. Homer Plessy was one of the many. Plessy boarded a train and sat in the white section only to be arrested for breaking the Jim Crow Laws (Muldoon, 2014). Plessy took action agaisnt his case and it ended up going to the Supreme Court. The case “Plessy v. Ferguson” ruled against Plessy in 1896. The court stated that “each race just had to be segregated” and that they were “separarte but equal” (Muldoon, 2014).

A famous Supreme Court case named “Brown v. The Bored of Education of Topeka” was happening. In 1951, Linda Brown was denied from an elementary school for all whites (History, 2019). Her father, Oliver Brown, claimed that “schools for black children were not equal to white schools” (History, 2019). He also said that segregation in general violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution (History, 2019). There were four other cases recalling schools and segregation along with Brown’s case (History, 2019). In 1952, these cases went before the Supreme Court, all under a sinle name, “Brown v. Bored of Education of Topeka” (History, 2019). In 1954, it was written that “‘separate but equal” has no place as segreagated schools are “inherently unequal’” (History, 2019).

After the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for public schools to be segregated, many blacks started to take more action. Even more Jim Crow laws were being made (Muldoon, 2014). Many African Americans have faced decades of their lives in separartion and unequal. One group of African Americans called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP wanted equal rights for all (Eddison, 2013). One memeber of this group was Rosa Parks. In some states, blacks could share a bus with whites as long as they sat in the back of the bus (Eddison, 2013). In 1955, one bus driver asked Parks and three other blake females to give up their seats to some white people (Biography, 2019). The three other girls go up, but Parks refused (Eddison, 2013). Rosa Parks was arrested and fined ten dollars (Eddison, 2013). Along with Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. was also a memeber of the NAACP (Biography, 2019). Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist minister and also a civil rights activist (Biography, 2019). They night that Rosa Parks got arrested, the head of the NAACP, E.D. Nixon, met with some of the group members to form a bus boycott (Biography, 2019). Martin Luther King Jr. was now presented at the president of the group since his was still young and crediable (Biography, 2019). They boycott lasted a total of 382 days (Biography, 2019). Most of the blacks never too the bus during this time. Many of them would walk to work, school, and to whereever they needed to go (Biography, 2019). Parks case went to the Supreme Court and in 1956, it was decided that segregation on public buses was agaisnt the law (Eddison, 2013). Parks continued her life working for equal rights (Eddison, 2013). In 1996, she recieved the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” (Eddison, 2013). At the age of 92, Rosa Parks died and was then on remembered as the “Mother of Civil Rights” (Eddison, 2013).

Martin Luther King Jr. Continued presenting at sit ins and doing speeches to try to ge segregation to end. However, in October of 1960, King, along wih 75 others, went into a store for lunch, but was denied. After refusng to leave, 37 of them, includig Martin Luther King Jr. were arrested (Biography, 2019). Many white, and black people as well, were angry at him for taking such risks (Biogrpahy, 2019). He wrote a famous letter to Birmingham Jail, saying how important “non-violent” action is (Biography, 2019). In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial where he gave his famous “I Have a Dream Speech” (Biography, 2019). This made people from all over the nation start listening. Many people who were not even experienceing racial segregation started putting out their public opinion and questioning the Jim Crow laws (Biography, 2019).

Segregation was upon us for over many decades. However, segregation was coming to an end when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act (History, 2019). By doing this, the Jim Crow laws were now abolished (History, 2019). This legally ended discrimination and segregation (History, 2019). It did not happen all at once however. It was hard to change the minds of the white people, but in the end segregation was illgeal (Muldoon, 2014).

Citations

1. “Brown V. Board of Education.” Radical Teacher, no. 80, Dec. 2007, pp. 46–47. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ent&AN=29363709&site=eds-live.
2. Edison, Erin. Rosa Parks. Capstone, 2013. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=624492&site=eds-live.
3. History.com Editors. (2009, October 27). Brown v. Board of Education. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka.
4. Martin Luther King Jr. (2019, August 28). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/activist/martin-luther-king-jr.
5. Muldoon, Kathleen M. The Jim Crow Era. ABDO Publishing, 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=795844&site=eds-live.

Introduction to Mass Incarceration and the New Jim Crow

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book that was authored by Michelle Alexander. The author’s argument in this book is that overcrowding that is experienced in America’s prisons is as a result of latent racism in America’s criminal justice system. Alexander defines mass incarceration as the “the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and customs that control those labeled criminals both in and out of prison .” This mass incarceration locks out significant percentage of the African American community out of the mainstream economy and society.

In this book Alexander seeks to show that if mass incarceration is the body, then the War on Drugs is the mass along a skeleton of a deeply engrained culture of racism in America. Alexander also includes the definition of mass incarceration as a “racial caste system.” This is consistent with the pattern during the periods of Jim Crow and slavery. Racial caste system is a system of racialized social control. Alexander develops a critique to this system because it produces a “racial undercaste” who are locked into an inferior position by both law and the customs of the society. This is the New Jim Crow.

Historical Context: From Slavery to Jim Crow to Mass Incarceration

The first chapter of the book is a discussion of the three strategies that were used by the whites to maintain their domination in the society – slavery, Jim Crow and mass incarceration. According to Alexander, all these systems were developed by the white elites in response to class-based and grassroots movements that advocated for greater social and economic inclusion of the black minority. For instance, the drug war was developed by white Americans and coded with a racist agenda. There was a biased strategy in the manner in which it was implemented. This is because it involved arresting drug offenders mainly in inner cities instead of also focusing on college campuses and corporate boardrooms. The political elite used the media to create the perception that the black males were violent and dangerous members of the community. However, during this time, studies have shown that even the whites used to sell drugs. The result of this is that the persons who were arrested by the police were disproportionately poor male members of the minority group. The white elites developed these policies in order to develop a wedge between the poor blacks and the poor whites so as to weaken the political union among the poor people.

Legal Foundations and Supreme Court Decisions

Alexander has a legal training and bases her arguments on different secondary sources including newspaper articles, policy reports, historical and sociological texts among others. The author uses these sources in Chapters Two and Three to describe the ways in which the surveillance systems, policing and imprisonment work to create disparities among the imprisoned populations. The Latino and Black populations account for 75% of the persons imprisoned for drug use . Alexander’s legal knowledge is brought to fore when she analyzes the Supreme Court decision in McCleskey v. Kemp which is one of the decisions that anchored racism as a way of life for Americans . Alexander also explains the earlier Supreme Court decision in Terry v. Ohio (1968). This is a case which empowered police to stop and frisk people without probable cause if the police officer has a reason to believe that the person stopped has committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime . Alexander explains how these laws affect people especially the black males. Through this, Alexander evokes the readers to question the stereotype of who is arrested and why they are arrested. Alexander informs the readers how the complicity in the system has worked to disadvantage the blacks thereby creating heavy devastation on the members of this race. A significant proportion of the persons arrested are poor people hence cannot afford a good lawyer. Through this analysis, the readers can ask the question of whether the government has fulfilled its duty to the citizens and whether it is fair to subject citizens to such treatment. Are these the democratic ideals that America is proud of?

The War on Drugs: A Catalyst for Mass Incarceration

In Chapters Two and Three, Alexander states how the police and prosecutors use their discretion to determine the people who are incarcerated in prisons . As has been mentioned, this is a selective fight on the War on Drugs that result in disproportionate arrests of Latino and Black people. The Supreme Court has anchored this system in law and practice by asserting that racial bias in sentencing cannot be challenged under the Fourteenth Amendment if the petitioners cannot prove discriminatory intent in the prosecution and sentencing. There are certain questions that can be considered in this case. The first question is the attitude of the African Americans to crime and punishment. Do the African Americans consider crime and punishment as discriminatory or they consider crime and punishment as a means of controlling behavior. The other question is the effect that mass incarceration of blacks has on other races in the United States. This is based on the notion that Alexander oversimplified the issue of War on Drugs while taking the focus away from other forms of crime, such as violence on the streets especially among the low income communities .

This is a “colorblind” system of justice that has produced a racial undercaste. Chapter Four of the book describes how felons are locked as undercaste by virtue of law. It is important to note that felon is a label that is ascribed to convicted persons. This label permanently locks the victims into a social and economic subordinate position. Even after they complete their jail terms, such persons find difficulty securing jobs because of discrimination that is brought upon them. They are also denied housing opportunities among other public assistance, such as eligibility for food stamps . The reading of this chapter evokes feelings of empathy on the labelled felons due to the challenges that they experience. How does the society expect them to reintegrate if the society is not providing the necessary social support. Is the purpose of incarceration for ‘character change’ or social control because if it is intended for character change, then the society should be ready to accept the freed convicts back into the society.

The Disproportionate Impact on African American Communities

In Chapter Five, Alexander compares the New Jim Crow to the old. In this, she states that there are more African Americans who are in correctional control today than they were enslaved in 1850 . However, just like the old Jim Crow, the New Jim Crow legalizes discrimination, segregation and disenfranchisement of the African Americans. In the old Jim Crow period, race was stigmatized due to shame of slavery. This then became shame for the second-class citizen. This was the time period when African Americans were not accorded certain rights, such as the voting rights. This made them be considered as second-class citizens. However, there were different programs that were implemented which improved the social and political participation of African Americans. Currently, the American society still discriminates against the African Americans. The shame in the current setup is on mass incarceration and criminality. The stigma and shame associated with criminality creates silence in the African Americans. This is because the stigma initiates an erasure of humanity from the eyes of the other members of the society thereby justifying the inhumane treatment that the African Americans are subjected to.

There are many instances in which African Americans have experienced confrontation with police officers some of which have been violent resulting in death of innocent persons. However, the New Jim Crow is not a perfect match of the old. This is because racial hostility may not be as prevalent as during the old times. Furthermore, there has been increased participation of African Americans in social, economic and political processes. One of the effects of this is the recent election of President Barack Obama as the President of the United States. In most instances, members of the African American communities have been silent on their negative experiences.

Challenges of Reintegration for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals

The New Jim Crow is a reality which the United States cannot ignore. The reason for this is that this phenomenon has an implication on the life and future of the nation. Alexander states that the nation should stop “colorblindness” meaning that the societal members should learn to recognize and appreciate the racial differences. This means that there is need for development of cost-effective criminal justice system that is fair and just to all persons irrespective of their races. This system should focus on legitimately curbing crime. The effect of this will be reduction in the number of incarcerations which will help reduce the amount of tax bill that is used to maintain prisons. The savings can be used in provision of other social services, such as education and healthcare.

The New Jim Crow is a call to arms. However, the author does not call for violent confrontations. Rather, the author calls for advocacy and improvement of the social and economic conditions that African Americans are exposed to. In the book Alexander does not suggest for abandonment of litigation and policy. However, there is need for consideration of the whole-sum of the issue in order to ensure that the society wins the whole battle instead of winning isolated battles and losing out on the larger war.

Reference List

1. Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press, 2012.
2. Embrick, David G. “Book Review: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” Humanity & Society 37, no. 2, (2013): 178-180.
3. Forman, James. “Racial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow.” Racial Critiques 87, (2012): 102-146.
4. McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
5. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)

Race is socially constructed; it exists nowhere but in the minds of the people. Race is an idea created in the minds of the people, repeated through different forms of presentation, then consciously and subconsciously accepted by the people (Jimenez, 2019). In full knowledge of race as a social construct, the pioneers of Jim Crow envisioned providing a platform where people of all walks could learn more about how the idea of an inferior black community was created in the minds of the Americans post 1932, how the idea was enforced, and how the idea evolved over time. Lest we forget, the museum exists as a historical account of the many ways in which racism was engraved in the minds of the people. Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia explains how the racist memorabilia evoked bad memories of certain times in history, how exaggeration of blackness created the idea that guided the white man’s view of the black men, and how the racist imagery was used as a tool of propaganda that provoked brutality towards black communities. A demonstration of how the display of the racist memorabilia helps shape a discourse on race relations and the lessons learned therein will be provided in the end.

The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia provides a historical account of the many ways of presenting blackness during and after the period of Jim Crow laws in the United States. This historical account begins with the Jim Crow comic upon entering the Museum to the point where Jim Crow became the social image of segregation and onwards to other events. This historical account bears with it memories of pain and suffering that the black community suffered at different times (King, 2017). There would be no surprise in an old man visiting the museum shedding tears at the sight of the Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia or an old woman not wanting to see a can of Gold Dust washing powder displayed at the museum. These historical instruments were not just clothes, pieces of art, of brands of consumer goods but actual sources of pain for the black community.

History is important and about context, controversies, and contentions. Applying this statement learned in class to the environment of the racist memorabilia in this discussion, each of the artifacts displayed at the museum has a context, a controversy, and contentions. A brand of washing powder such as Gold Dust, which is displayed in the museum, may just be a brand of soap to many people who may recall all about how good or bad the washing powder was good at removing dirt on linen or grease from the cooking pot. However, many people remember that this was a brand that represented the servitude and slavery that black women were exposed to at the time when the brand reined. Such images are not just considered offensive and racist but a reflection of real suffering that was meted out on people (Chakraborty, 2018). Applying the same logic to the Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia, there would be a Klan man or woman who sees the items as a representation of the fight for white supremacy but for other people these wearable paraphernalia are just a representation of the brutality that members of KKK unleashed on black men and women.

Other than providing historical accounts of injustice, suffering, and hostilities against the black community, the racist memorabilia showcases an exaggerated representation of blackness and the back community’s biological features. Some viewers would consider the caricatures and cartoons comical but these artifacts are offensive in that they do not in any way present any close resemblance to the black community. One of the exaggerated features is the glossy and pitch-black surface of the caricatures. Such a presentation indicates that the goal was not just to show the semblance of black but to present an image that no one wanted to be associated with. Mueller, Williams and Dirks (2018) noted the use of such imagery to showcase white men’s racial fantasies and fears. The same case applies to the bulging eyes, the wide and flat nose, large lips that are overly red and on an open moth that shows long, wide, and dirty teeth. The images and caricatures were meant to present the picture of an ugly creature, not human, that no one would like (Jimenez, 2019). The endgame was to brew hatred towards the black communities.

The exaggerated presentation of black men was especially important to white men who intended to use those images to keep the white women away from the black. It is not hard to find that to this day the black men are dismissed as having those same features shown in the museum. Such is the power of using the different artifacts in the museum to create an idea of what being racially black looks like. For many of the caricatures, the creators were white men who enjoyed and earned from the art or black men who were forced to work on sculptures, caricatures, and other similar items. Jim Crow himself was a white man acting black. The exaggeration was offensive first because it did not represent a true picture of the black men, it was offensive, was used by the whites to humiliate the blacks, and to this day one hears racist insults that refer to the pieces at the museum.

Another reason why materials at the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia are indeed considered racist is the imagery of propaganda against the black community. Some of the pieces in the museum were used to present blacks as stupid, unintelligent, or not as intelligent as the whites. These pieces include comics where a white woman would be correcting the words of an “educated” black man in demeaning ways. Such comics were part of a long-standing social construction sponsored by people like Charles Darwin who referred to blacks as savage, less intelligent, and unable to adapt (King, 2017). In the post-Jim Crow period, the comics were used to create a social construct that indeed the blacks were stupid or less intelligent.

The racist materials in the Jim Crow Museum were used to spread propaganda that black men were hostile brutes who deserved similar treatment. The finding is consistent with the time when black men would be arbitrarily accused of rape and violence against women or the slave masters. The black men would then be roughed by in presence of their fellow black community to teach them a lesson. They would also be murdered in the presence of white men, women, and young children to show them how to deal with brutal black men. Effectively, the image of a postcard at the museum showing a gathering of whites surrounding a shirtless black man tied to a pole is a representation of propaganda against the black (Chakraborty, 2018). That is holistically and aggressively racist and the materials are therefore considered as such.

Racism dehumanizes the subject and the racist memorabilia in the museum was used to reflect the dehumanization of black people. In the museum, some caricatures look more like emonkeys than human beings yet they were created as a representation of human beings. In the museum, there are images of black men hanging from trees and fed to dogs. The images of animal-like human beings are specifically intended to dehumanize the people (Jimenez, 2019). There are images of black men with deformed backs as a result of maiming. Many of those images were sold as postcards in the US at the time when Jim Crow laws were still in place. However, being postcards does not make them less racist materials. They are an indication of just how far the racist views had been accepted and normalized in the United States. All the items are an important component of the heritage of the black people without which their story cannot be complete.

The overall view from the assessment of the materials at the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia is to the different factors they represent. Some of the items carry historical reminders of violence and servitude against the blacks. Other images were used as propaganda material that presented the blacks as unintelligent brutes. Still many of the pieces in the museum show the suffering of the black community in ways that only those who suffered would be able to explain. The fact that the memories above come out of seeing racist memorabilia, and the fact that the materials can be offensive means that they should be considered racist.

The images of Martin Luther King Jr. and Karl Marx are representations of a point in time when the black man rose to fight his basic human rights. The images of the smartly dressed black men and women are an indication of emancipation from servitude to self-determination. The image of a male professional chef contrasted with that of aunt Jemima in the same museum is an indication of the fight for equality of races in the United States (Jimenez, 2019). All the instruments in the museum should therefore not be seen as displays of artifacts but a representation of the memories of racism in the United States during Jim Crow.

The idea to collect and display the racist memorabilia in the museum makes sense and is justifies. The mind is frail and life limited. Many people may have forgotten about what inspired caricatures and the limitations of life mean that those who remember are dying quickly of old age. As the memories are lost among life’s challenges, some of the instruments displayed in the museum are still in production in different countries including Australia, Canada, and the United States. For instance, a dancing cartoon of Jim Crow is still production and without information, the young children of this age may never know what those images represented. Therefore, there is the need to constantly remind the people about how race was socially constructed

Continued production of some of the memorabilia by modern companies is an indication that many people still do not understand the histories and imagery of these memorabilia. Some companies innocently produce the items. Seeing the items in a museum of racist memorabilia may provoke such companies to consider the histories of the products and probably discontinue the production. Teaching the history and evolution of race is in itself a form of activism against racism as people tend to forget (Mueller, Williams & Dirks, 2018). The museum is, therefore, an important point of changing the narrative on racism with the target on the companies and businesses that may be continuing to produce the materials.

Another reason why it makes sense to collect and display the materials is the fact racism continues to thrive in the now color-blind society. Whiteness and blackness are now lost in Hispanics and African American names of the races. There are laws against discrimination based on color. However, such moves have not cured the problem of racism. The police still profile African Americans as brutal criminals, explaining the mass incarceration of black men in the US. Young African Americans are repeatedly fatally shot by the police with a recent online video rising to show a policeman saying that they only shoot blacks. White supremacy calls are on the rise during the reign of President Trump (House, 2017). All these are indications that the fight for quality of all races continues. The racist memorabilia would help remind the people of what it felt to be treated differently (House, 2017). The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia is a constant reminder that the war against racism continues.

Many young people especially those of the connected generation may never know about the different ways in which race was historically presented unless they see it on the racist memorabilia in the museum. Postcards that glorify racism are no longer in use, signboards declaring white only or black only spaces are not anywhere to be seen today. Similarly, people who still buy some of the caricatures now repaint them to pink or another color in order not to appear racist. This means that the passage of time has continued to erase memories of a dark history in the life of African Americans and it counts to maintain memories of those days lest people forget.

The internet and especially the rise of many social media platforms are the new frontier in the battle against racism. Black teens are bullied for the look of their skin color. Noble (2018) noted about the use of algorithms of oppression on search engines thereby promoting racism. There are online groups that use the confederation flag, images of Ku Klux Clan paraphernalia, and many other instruments. This online representation of racist materials then flows to the streets with white supremacists going on a shooting rampage killing black people. At the core of the new frontline in the fight against racism, are the very same tactics that were used in the past. It is therefore important to teach young people about history, to let them know and identify racism when it is thrust on their faces, and to let them know that they can stand for the rights of the black communities even in the online environment. Von Blum (2017) stated that the memorabilia uses racist images to combat racism and encourage resistance especially among the young. The racist memorabilia, therefore, remains to have not just meaning but also relevance to the modern context of racism.

Due to racial systems, there are inequalities in economic, political, and social sense, including more poverty among blacks than whites. These inequalities between black and white neighborhoods are contextualized in the history of racism in the US. The fact that the majority of African Americans still live in poor neighborhoods is a product of the inequalities that existed during the Jim Crow. Serving racist memorabilia as a reminder of racism, therefore, serves to provide new ways of the young seeing and recognizing racism. Today the problem of othering and exclusion is used to cover up racism. However, there is a need to highlight the many economic, political, and social ills that face modern society. Holterhoff (2017) highlighted this need in the account of views from a digital archivist of racist materials.

Lastly, the collection and display of the artifacts in the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia provides an opportunity for people to have discourses on how to eliminate racism and to be sensitive to the needs of all people. Cassanello (2017) stated that the memorabilia is important in teaching tolerance and social justice. The leadership of the museum categorically indicates that it serves to provide a platform where the people get to understand how the society was built to sustain a racial hierarchy and how people can change the conversation. Some people but caricature for their lawns without understanding the history of such caricature. By pointing out the imagery in many everyday items it becomes possible to see how the race was presented. Most importantly the memorabilia show how one can avoid advancing the racist discourse by avoiding the very items that represent the racial hierarchy in the society.

In conclusion, the pioneers of Jim Crow envisioned providing a platform where people of all walks could learn more about how the idea of an inferior black community was created in the minds of the Americans post 1932, how the idea was enforced, and how the idea evolved over time. Lest we forget, the museum exists as a historical account of the many ways in which racism was engraved in the minds of the people. The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia is an important center in learning about the history of racism. The memorabilia represents racists views based on the historical context, controversies, and contentions. The materials comprise exaggerations that remain offensive. At the same time, the imagery in the pieces displayed in the museum needs to be deconstructed. It is important to display those items today as a preservation of memories about a dark point in time for the African Americans. Some of the images are alive now as they were during Jim Crow. There may be a new frontier in the battle against racism, othering, and exclusion but the principles of winning the battle will not change. The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia is an important reminder of what the fight is against and how the young men and women of the connected generation must engage in racist views.

When one talks about racism, most of our opinions are based on what happens in America; from 400 years ago until now, we find ourselves believing that racism in America has improved greatly. And we have improved, compared to the times before and after the Civil War. However, as we progress forward, we move back fifty years. Some of us in society refuse to acknowledge the arising problems that have to do with racism while others become apart of the problem. As a society, we are taught about white culture, eurocentric beauty standards, and brought up with subconscious racist mindsets that will take a lifetime to unlearn, and have for centuries, kept people of color oppressed. We are brought up with subtleties of racism, such as a child seeing their white mom lock the car door in fear when a black person walks past or seeing their white dad make a disgusted look at a Hispanic for no reason at all. It is things like this that are ingrained in our brains; racial stereotypes that we cannot help but think about each race. This is what racism has become in the 21st century, and will continue to grow unless we acknowledge the problem and help eradicate it.

Racism is defined, by Oxford Dictionary as, “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s race is superior:” (Oxford Dictionary) Despite this coined definition, it very loosely defines racism as a whole, and forgets about institutionalized racism, internalized racism, and many other forms of racism that are often overlooked or considered as ‘just jokes’ and simple commentary (such as micro-aggressions ). Racism dates back even before 400 years ago during the enslavement of Africans and before Charles Darwin’s theory of Descent of Man. “No clear and unequivocal evidence of racism has been found in other cultures or in Europe before the Middle Ages.” George M. Fredrickson states in The Historical Origins and Development of Racism. However, some might believe that the first signs of racism appeared during the thirteenth and fourteenth century, a time in Jews were identified with the correlation of the devil and witchcraft. (Fredrickson) From there on out, many different beliefs and theories about the ‘better race’ begin to appear, Charles Darwin’s theory being one of the most infamous ones. He believed that his own white race was more advanced than other ethnic groups, often calling them “savages”, “low” and “degraded”. Thus fueling the deadliest forms of racism. Social Darwinism was a term given to such ideal during the time of European’s quest for colonizing other, weaker nations.

When we think of racism in America, however, we think of the Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement. The Jim Crow laws were one of the main forms of racism towards black people (and other people of color) during the 1890s and didn’t ‘end’ until the 1900s (although we can say that many of the lingering effects of Jim Crow do still exist today). These ‘laws’ were regulations created by Southern states that made the segregation of African Americans and whites reality (and very much legal). The Jim Crow Laws were laws that practically restricted African Americans on their rights of freedom, this included: the right to use public facilities, schools, and to vote. But that is only the basic outlines of what the Jim Crow laws were really all about, as they were more explicit in detail of what blacks could and could not do. Some of us just have yet to fully realize these inconspicuous kinds of racism. The new Jim Crow laws are hidden under smaller kinds of discrimination; passed under things such as micro-aggressions and snide remarks that produce inferiority amongst people of color. “The unequal racial profiling, police brutality, voting restrictions, and mass imprisonment of African Americans and other people of color in the United States is a moral outrage” (Unitarian Universalist). Those who oppress people of color have found ways to continue to do so unless we take a stand and become more aware of the kinds of racism that still affect us today.

Racism comes in many forms, as stated above. It comes in forms of subtle commentaries that may seem harmless at first, micro aggressions being the coined term for such. Defined by Derald Wing Sue in the book Racial Micro aggressions in Everyday Life, “Racial micro aggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults towards people of color.” (Sue) Racism may come in more deadlier forms, such as police brutality, but as people of color grow up, we often face more subtle racist remarks than we actually think we do. Another problem that has often reared its ugly head would be denial in the fact that racism exists. The more the denial, the more the racism. And it’s this denial that stops any progress from happening, and it isn’t just occurring now. It has for centuries, dating back to times of slavery and even after that. It the very fact that white people during the time of slavery thought of African-Americans (slaves) as property than actual human beings really show how little respect people of color are given because of their skin color. PBS American Denial’s director Llewellyn Smith and producers Christine Herbes-Sommers and Kelly Thomson offer a new answer to the question: why does a country who proclaims freedom and liberty such as America, treat people of color so terribly? By digging deeper, Desmond-Harris states that the common root the show found was “unconscious racism, also known as implicit bias. They pin the blame on a belief—so deeply entrenched that many of us aren’t ‘t aware that we hold it—that white is better than black.” We might think it started with just slavery and Jim Crow laws, but the problem is so much more deeply rooted in the very ways on how we raise our child to think in this society.

Race has always mattered, no matter the year, the era, or the period. The ideas of being ‘colorblind’ or ‘not seeing color’ only add to the problems that surround racism. Racism was alive back then and is very much prevalent now. While the textbook definition of racism serves to counter-argue that racism is now ‘dead’, or that white people experience racism as well. However, as S.E. Smith explains in the Daily Dot, “In order to be racist, you need to possess two traits. The first is privilege: A structural, institutional, and social advantage. White people occupy positions of racial privilege, even when they are disadvantaged in other ways.” (Smith) The second being power. The idea that all women make 77 cents for every dollar a male makes, however, this fact is incorrect. White women make 77 cents for every dollar a white man makes; Black, Hispanics/Latinx, and Asians women make even less than 77 cents. It’s these benefits that people often overlook to falsely claim that there is equality when racial equality is practically nonexistent. We as a society must become more aware of the certain privileges specific people hold upon others, and that by the end of the day, change is needed.

The problem still stands, however: we have an obvious race issue in America, and around the world. Whether it’s amongst our people (internalized racism and colorism) or towards other people of color, racism plays a big impact on the way our society functions. As a society, humans have been raised into thinking certain things that will take years, and maybe a lifetime to unlearn. People of color grow up believing that eurocentric beauty is what needs to be obtained to look ‘beautiful’, that white is pure while black is evil. It all ends with the fact that we are brought up to believe “white is better than black”, and it’s this kind of idea that is ingrained in our head that continues to force people of color to be oppressed for centuries. Racism is deadly, racism is one of the most prevalent problems in our society today, but with more awareness, we can combat it and make a change.

Introduction/thesis statement

The United States has gone through major demographic transformations over the past hundred years, one of which is its racial and ethnic composition. Sociologists theorize that racial and ethnic diversity continues to be an important feature in American society to date. As racial inequality continues to affect American societies, we see major shifts in political roles that favor whiteness. Especially with president Donald Trump being elected in 2016, with his main campaign being to build a wall in our southern borders to stop migration of other ethnic groups. Negative racial ideologies remain the same and white privilege continues to shape social conditions and life chances of the population. Through these transformations of racial and ethnic demographics in the united states, we begin to see different forms of racism that are as affective as the Jim Crow laws.

Major arguments and evidence from course materials

In order to look at the demographic changes in the United States, we must understand the changes in the meaning of race and ethnicity. The U.S. has gone through several changes in diversity, especially during the Jim Crow laws, when discrimination was popular in the American culture. Race and ethnicity were very extreme on their definitions and their power over other ethnic groups. For example, in the Cornell & Hartmann reading, Ethnicity and Race: Making identities in a changing world, they state “race has been the most powerful and persistent group boundary in American history, distinguishing, to varying degrees, the experiences of those classified as non-white from those classified as white, often with devastating consequences” (Cornell & Hartmann 2007). This explains how race has played a key role in making whites the dominant group in societies. They created a privileged class that undermines all other ethnic groups, which made other race believe they were different from the whites and everyone else. These differences made people believe an ideology that makes them inferior. Americans created this system and passed laws that allowed discrimination against other groups to be legal to maintain white supremacy. For example, Cornell & Hartmann states, “In the United States, some ethnic groups have been privileged over others at various times in history, whiteness-a racial category-has been consistently privileged over non-whiteness, with persons of color consigned to the margins of American society and culture” (Cornell & Hartmann 2007). When looking at the terms race and ethnicity, we need to look at the extreme moments in history to really understand the changes in demographics. An Extreme moment in the U.S.’s history was during the Jim Crow laws, from 1960s-1970s, when segregation was a law and forced upon everyone. If we compare the era to current time, we can understand how the United States has changed demographically in terms of race and ethnicity. To understand the path created through the abolition of the Jim Crow laws, we turn to a quote by Bonilla-Silva in the Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class, he states “Hence the racial order had to be effectively transformed. That was the role fulfilled by the civil rights movement and the other forms of mass protest by blacks that took place… the over three-hundred racial riots in the 1960s were the catalysts that brought down Jim Crow white supremacy’ (Bonilla-Silva 2007). The civil rights movements caused a major shift in demographics because the power of race and ethnicity were no longer in the favor of whites. However, whiteness, prejudice thoughts and racism still mattered in the United State. In order to understand how whiteness still matters to date, we need to look at Bonilla-Silva’s theory of “new racism,” in the Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class which explains the differences in racism and how it is still as affective as Jim Crow laws. Bonilla-Silva states, “I have labeled this new kinder and gentler, white supremacy as the ‘new racism’ and have argued that it is the main force behind contemporary racial inequality. Although the ‘new racism’ seems to be racism lite, it is as effective as slavery and Jim crow in maintaining the racial status quo” (Bonilla-Silva 2007). Silva introduces his theory as a kinder racism because of the large amounts of civil rights movements caused by heavy discrimination. White Americans stopped discriminating against other races in extreme ways to stop them from revolting. However, this still didn’t stop them from keeping their hierarchy, they kept a sense of dominance over other ethnic groups. According to Silva, through this “new racism” whiteness remains popular in American culture by “the increasingly covert nature of racial discourse and practices; the avoidance of racial terminology and the ever-growing claim by whites that they experience ‘reverse racism’; the invisibility of most mechanisms to reproduce racial inequality; the incorporation of ‘safe minorities’ to signify the nonracialism of the polity; and the rearticulation of some racial practices characteristic of the Jim Crow period of race relations” (Bonilla-Silva 2007). This is Silva’s “new racism” theory which explains how whites continue to keep whiteness, prejudice and racism to matter in the United States. In this “new racism” we see whites playing the blame victim and averting themselves from the actual problem, making it taboo to even talk about inequality because ‘’we used to have a lot of racism, but things are so much better today!’” (Bonilla-Silva 2007). By creating a sense of taboo when talking about racial inequality, whites take away the power from other ethnic groups by forgetting about the strong black people who started civil rights movements and stopped further extreme racism. Whites are discouraging other ethnic groups to rise against the ruling ideas through the incorporation of the “safe minorities,” they force “minorities” to assimilate to their culture by following the rules implemented for whites. Through these transformations of racial and ethnic demographics in the united states, we begin to see different forms of racism that are as affective as the Jim Crow laws. As seen through Bonilla-Silva’s theory on “new racism,” race and ethnicity highlight the importance of culture, social class, and economic factors in determining social conditions by race and ethnicity.

Analysis and evaluation/comparisons

With current trends in pop culture, I can see Bonilla-Silva’s forecast for the future of U.S. racial inequality to be true because we experience inequality through structural racism. Ethnic groups become segregated from whites through redlining, an invisible mechanism to reproduce inequality. Most families cannot buy homes in nicer areas where education is highly funded, crime rates are low and job security is high. Bankers and real estate owners are responsible for this kind of racism because bankers have maps of areas that are marked red. Which indicate that the houses that are available cannot be sold to someone who is not white. Real-estate owners show people of ethnic backgrounds only houses and apartments in rural areas because they don’t want them moving into neighborhoods that are predominantly white. I have experienced “new racism” through the fraternity and sorority life organization I am in at Cal State Long Beach. I can see this line of racism through the idea of dominant groups and being the top fraternity on campus. First, I saw this through a fraternity named Pi Kap. They consider themselves “top house” because they have the greatest number of white males in their fraternity, which creates this ideology among other fraternities that we must be white to be the best. However, this is false because the only reason Pi Kap is among the “top houses” is because they have wealthy parents who saved up college funds for them to spend and enjoy college. My fraternity members fell victim to this stigma of white supremacy as they started to speak in our group chat around rush week saying “rush more white guys! They pull harder (gets more girls)!” or “rush more white guys they have money and friends who are rich too!” When my friends said that, I realized that I was seeing the “new racism” theory Bonilla-Silva was describing. Although this was not an extreme case, it still has a sense of gentle racism Silva speaks of. They are hinting at them being a better fraternity through their race. As other members of fraternity life begin to believe this, they create a structural barrier that causes fraternity members to only rush white males instead of any other ethnic groups.

Conclusion

Although the United States has gone through dramatic demographic changes, we still see racism that is as affective as extreme racism. We see this through structural and contemporary racism by which is explained by Silva as the “new racism” in terms of race and ethnicity. Through these transformations of racial and ethnic demographics in the united states, we begin to see different forms of racism that are as affective as the Jim Crow laws. As seen through Bonilla-Silva’s theory on “new racism,” race and ethnicity highlight the importance of culture, social class, and economic factors in determining social conditions by race and ethnicity. Through the reading of Bonilla-Silva, I will try to create my own foundation that will go against this line of “new racism” that will help those being discriminated against. This gentle racism is as dangerous as extreme racism because you put this pressure on other ethnic groups that they must be someone they are not. That they must be white in order to be someone important or amazing.

Bibliography

1. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva “’New Racism,’ Color-Blind Racism, and the Future of whiteness in America” June 26, 2018, reprint edition Beacon Press Taylor and Francis Books, Inc 15 pages Pp. 3-4 and 6-8
2. Stephen Cornell and Douglas Hartmann “Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a changing world” December 15, 2006 Pine Forge Press A Sage Publications Company 29 pages Pp. 8

When art discussion comes up there is always the question posed of subjectivity and if you can take a work out of its context. We know when looking at Betye Saar’s work that this is not possible. Her works are largely based on her personal history, the historical period she grew up in, and her heritage. Betye Saar was born in Los Angeles in 1926 and became “a part of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s, which engaged myths and stereotypes about race and femininity.” (wiki ***replace with scholarly and put in own words) Betye Saar’s works, backboned by her identity as a black woman growing up through the Civil Rights Era, calls American viewers to take a deeper look at their racist history and examine the future of black liberation, which she does by employing symbolism, intertextuality and creating adjustments to these references.

Betye Saar’s The Weight of Color requires Americans to look at how historically they oppressed African Americans even after slavery through the use of Jim Crow laws. Betye Saar created The Weight of Color in 2008, many years after the Civil Rights Act. However, she grew up in America as an African American when Jim Crow laws were still in place. Her identity in this way is the backbone of this piece and many of her other works. She felt the weight of the burden of Jim Crow laws first hand and when you bring the title into analysis she felt the “weight of color,” how being black in America meant carrying around a burden that you constantly had to fight to survive, let alone flourish.

Betye Saar requires Americans to look back at the use of Jim Crow laws in the subordination of black Americans by employing symbolism and intertextuality. The Weight of Color is a sculptural piece that consists of three main components: at the bottom is an old rusted weight scale, on top of that a cage with a stuffed black crow inside and the uppermost element is a mammy figurine. In Betye Saar’s piece she uses symbolism through the use of the stuffed crow, cage, and weight scale. The crow is much to large to fit in such a small cage, the beak pokes out through the bars in the top and the legs fork unnaturally to each side. The crow is used as a symbol for the Jim Crow laws, created in late 19th and early 20th century, these laws were to enforce segregation, continuing the systematic oppression of African Americans. Courtney Jordan, the online editor of American Artists articulates how the use of the cage on top of the scale shows how “the burden of the Jim Crow laws are forever being weighed,” (PG #). What Jordan means by this statement is that the cage being “weighed” by the scale is Saars way of symbolizes how Jim Crow laws not only caused segregation but they also kept blacks in a place of oppression, and those effects have resulted in blacks being at a state of disadvantage that is not reversible in any near future. This symbolism Saar created, of the burden of Jim Crow laws being never-endingly weight, also points to how American’s need to acknowledge the beliefs these laws perpetuated have bore their way into the American psyche, resulting in long-lasting racist beliefs towards blacks and in turn negative effects on African American’s own ideas of self. (go more into history and explain how these laws put them at disadvantage?) Saar continues this symbolism by choosing a cage too small for the crow and positioning the crow in an uncomfortable way to show how these laws were constraining and meant to hold blacks in this subordinate place where slavery started. The door to the cage is open minimally but has an oversized padlock, which Jordan believes, “is likely a reference to the false promise of the ‘separate but equal’ laws that offered blacks the semblance of equality but in reality provided nothing of the kind,” (PG #). Through this symbolism, Saar is asking the American viewers to look deeper into our past to discover the truth. Many believe that with the abolition of slavery, blacks had freedom and equality and that Jim Crow laws maintained “equality” but just continued separation. Saar’s use of he slight opening of the cage door combined with the heavy lock show how the Jim Crow laws didn’t actual provide equality, but instead restricted blacks to public facilities that weren’t as good as the ones allotted to whites, putting blacks behind whites on the road to success.

Saar employs intertextuality in The Weight of Color through the use of a Mammy figurine to get Americans to look at their creation of stereotype and the burden these resulted in for the blacks that had to live under a society perpetuated by the myths these stereotypes created. Cartoons started in the 1940s and these images continued to shape Americans’ feelings about race. The Black Mammy, a figure of the south, emerged as a defense of slavery. The Black Mammy was depicted as a fat, pitch-black woman who was happily obedient to her master. She was pictured as a docile, loyal, protector of the house, (Ethic Notions). “The mammy figure that sits atop the cage is much like the metaphorical straw that broke the camel’s back. Not only did black Americans at one time have to exist under the yoke of the Jim Crow laws, they also lived in a society where racist images and caricatures of blacks, like the mammy, had to be shouldered every day.” (Jordan #). What Jordan is alluding to here is how blacks have to constantly fight against the myths that were created from these stereotypes. However, without knowledge of the history of this figurine the message Saar is trying to convey with this intertextual reference would fall short. By employing intertextuality in this way Saar is requiring the viewer to find the true history that encompasses this figurine and question the reality of the stereotype and myth that insued from its creation. Saar continued to employ this intertextual reference of the Mammy and other racist stereotypes in much of her work.

Betye Saar’s The Liberation of Aunt Jemima is dependent on intertextual knowledge of The Mammy, in the form of Aunt Jemima, continuing to make Americans look at how historically they oppressed blacks through racial myths and stereotypes. Saar’s repetition of the commercialized image of Aunt Jemima, in conjunction with the Mammy figurine makes American viewers not only take a deeper look into the history of racial myths and stereotypes but also question their presence within modern culture and our psyche. In the background of this piece Saar has created a wallpapering of pancake labels featuring their poster figure, Aunt Jemima; in conjunction with The Mammy figurine the viewer is required to draw the connection between the two. Kellie Jones, art historian, described the significance of the Aunt Jemima dissemination in the following way: “The wide circulation of derogatory images in advertising and popular culture established Aunt Jemima as the personification of the “cook, servant, mammy” of hospitality that are redolent of southern climes. Her joy of serving bespeaks love and devotion to the old South and its masters and is emblematic of nostalgia and fantasy for a status quo where the black servant signifies white luxury and power,” ( 113). What Jones is brining to light here is how Aunt Jemima’s modernized domestic role is an embodiment of the stereotype of the mammy, one happy in domestic devotion to masters. And this in turn is signifying that whites are the ones in a place of power and higher status and that there’s nothing wrong with that. Saar putting Aunt Jemima as a wallpaper background behind an actual Mammy figuring requires viewers to look at how this Aunt Jemima character was created and question the repercussions of it being reproduced so widely. With the use of repetition of these labels, indicating frequent broadcasting, Saar requires you to look even deeper into the popularity of images based in racial myths and stereotypes, how they were connected to consumerism, and how they have passed into modern culture and psyche. Ellen Tani, art historian, curator, and critic verbalized this issue, “…production of images and material goods that compressed the complicated landscape of black subjectivity into instantly recognizable physical types-Sambo, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, pickaninnies-satisfied a known consumer demand. Such demand abetted the persistent misrepresentation of black people in visual culture as exaggerated stereotypes,” (#). Tani is pointing out here how the consumer supply and demand of these stereotypes resulted in the continual misrepresentation of black people, and this misrepresentation can have a lot of negative effects. Saar grew up in a time where these physical stereotypes were widely present so she is drawing on her own personal history of struggling against them while creating a call to Americans to look into a past that we often choose to ignore.

Betye Saar’s employs adjustments of these intertextual references in her works to make American viewers not only look at the oppression and racism within their history but also examine the future of black and women’s liberation. “By manipulating the figure’s context and accoutrements, Saar repositioned the stereotype to allow for its liberation,” (“Old And New Negroes” 150). One way Betye Saar in The Liberation of Aunt Jemima adjusts the Mammy figurine is by inserting a postcard into the skirt which depicts a black woman holding a mixed-race child, making viewers question the history of sexual assault that white man enacted on black slaves. The Mammy figure was depicted as fat and with no sexual allure and was “presented almost as the antithesis of white lady… does not have the qualities of fragility and beauty which would make her valued in society,” (Ethnic Notions). This was done so because if the mammy was pictured as sexual then she would have been a threat to the mistress of home, and therefore a threat to the entire slavery system. However, the reality is oftentimes masters did desire slaves who worked in the house and many raped them, sometime producing offspring. Saar’s choice to put a postcard in of a woman holding a mixed-race child, “draws attention to the longstanding history of sexual abuse of black women and the black domestic worker’s uncomfortable proximity to the white male.” (“Old and New Negroes” 151). By using this postcard Saar opens our eyes to the history that men were often the aggressors of black women, not the other way around, breaking two common stereotypes: that black woman are sexless, and that they are also somehow dirty sexual deviants.

Betye Saar in The Liberation of Aunt Jemima also adjusts the Mammy figurine to holding guns as a way to take back this stereotype and change the future of its liberation. The figurine was originally meant to be a paperweight that holds a pencil, indicative of it being a very popular commercialized archetype. Saar instead fixes a rifle where the pencil should be and adds a pistol under the other arm that is holding the broom. The addition of guns gives this figure the power, turning into the revolutionary figure. Saar endowing this figure with power breaks the idea that woman of the past were powerless, subservient beings, and happy to be in that role. Betye Saar herself describes this transformation as one from “a negative, demeaning figure into a positive, empowered woman who stands confrontationally with one hand holding a broom and the other armed for battle. A warrior ready to combat servitude and racism,” (“Old and New Negroes” 149). The use of a shotgun and a pistol can also hint to slavery being a violent past that Americans need to look at, and how some slaves did rebel against their masters. By making this physical representation of a stereotype of black woman into a symbol of power, Saar is altering the meaning behind the character – showing that women weren’t happy in these domestic servitude positions and aren’t happy with the stereotypes that continue this myth. Saar shows us how simple adjustments can change the meaning of an intertextual reference, allowing it to be reclaimed, in this case for the future liberation of women – freeing them from this misconstrued ideal of domesticity and servitude.

In The Liberation of Aunt Jemima Betye Saar also adjusts the image to have a collaged black power fist, questioning the myth of black woman being powerless and turning the image into a symbol of black strength. On the postcard, baby swaddling fabric is hung over a picket fence, but Saar has collaged on top a black power fist, creating a literal visualization of black power and strength covering up the powerless, household role. “As Black Studies scholar George Lipsitz notes… “In her creative reconfiguration of racist images, Saar encourages reconciliation with previous generations for whom segregation contained and constrained the dignity and self-activity of Blacks” (Castro 167). What Lipsitz means here is Saar is helping previous generations take control of their dignity and power, and heal the wounds that segregation had caused to them. As Deborah Willis understands it, Saar is “reinterpreting the working-class woman” through her pieces,” (#). Willis is alluding to how creating these alterations to a once repressive and limiting stereotype, Saar is challenging them through the creation of a new representation of African American working-class women. Saar could have done this by creating a new character, but using an old repressive one and changing it creates direct conflict with the racist myths that have traveled from our past to our present in the form of these representations. Since Saar is a part of this generation who saw these physical stereotypes come into fruition, she is also healing her own wounds by taking control of the narrative of her own identity as a black working-class woman.

When you grow up in the United States you don’t often learn the violent, horrible truth to how we have arrived at the place we are now. Most history books don’t teach you that the United States is founded on genocide, slavery and the repression of whole races and cultures. Betye Saar makes American viewers confront this uncomfortable reality through her use of symbolism and intertextual references to stereotypes created to encourage oppression and segregation. Betye Saar’s pieces also draw on her own identity as a black woman growing up through the Civil Rights Era in America, as well as allow her to reclaim this identity by framing it the way she wants to be seen. Saar’s use of symbolism and intertextuality are enacted in her works to cause Americans to

The Prison Industrial Complex is seen as the new Jim Crow. Jim Crow laws started as early as 1865, after the slaves were freed due to the thirteenth amendment, which freed about four million people from slavery. The laws around slaves, how, when, and where freed slaves could find work and for how much, was strict. These ‘codes’ throughout the South would appear as a legal way to take away African American’s right to vote, take away their own control of how they lived and traveled. Ex-Confederate soldiers were the main people working as judges and police officers, because of this winning court cases was nearly impossible for African Americans. In jails, prisoners were treated as slaves, and African American offenders almost always received sentences that were longer than white offenders who have committed the same crime.

The work that they were expected to do was so physically demanding and exhausting and constant, that many inmates died even before their sentence was over due to the work. The Jim Crow Laws only continued to grow and expand leading to segregation. Not until the end of World War II did the civil rights really start to take off. Integration of the military was ordered in 1948 by President Harry Truman and educational segregation ended in 1954 as a resuly of the Supreme Court case Brown VS. Board of Education. Then not until 1964, did President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act, which ended segregation and discrimination legally, which were previously institutionalized by Jim Crow laws. Minorities then got the right to vote due to the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and a legal effort to end discrimination when minorities tried to buy, rent, and sell homes was in 1968 with the Fair Housing Act. Unfortunately, even though laws were passed in an effort to end the discrimination that did not mean that it stopped rascism from happening in the United States.

Michelle Alexander, author of ​The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, believes that mass incarceration has a similar political origin than the Jim Crow laws. She says “Both caste systems were born, in part, due to a desire among white elites to exploit the resentments, vulnerabilities, and racial biases of poor and working-class whites for political or economic gain,” (Alexander, 2011). Caste systems are generally associated with an ascribed or predetermined status. S0, for people of color that predetermined status leads to segregation. Alexander also notes that a way white elite’s were trying to deter the hate towards themselves and put it on African Americans instead was by proposing segregation laws. Mass incarceration is another product of a similar type of political move like that one. Alexander (2011) believes that the “most obvious” similarity between current mass incarceration and the old Jim Crow laws, is the legal discrimination. To this day, it’s no secret that there is still racism and discrimination again people of color, despite there being laws that are supposed to be preventing it. Alexander argues that African Americans are relegated to a lower level of the caste system, due to many of them being convicted of a felony before they turn twenty-one, partly due to racism in the criminal justice system and the war on drugs.

About ninety percent of those who are arrested and sentenced to prison over drug offenses are people of color, but mostly latino, and black. The war on drugs have left people and families, both innocent and not, in devastating conditions, such as homelessness, putting children in foster care, and taking away government aide from those in need. According to D’angelo and Douglas 2014, “Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that, in seven states, African Americans constitute 80 percent to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison,” (2014. Pg 243). They also note that in the mid 1980’s when the war on drugs really began, the number of African Americans who were put into jail became higher than ever before, and by 2000 the number was “more than twenty-six times” (D’Angelo and Douglas 2014. Pg 243) the number in the mid 80’s. It has been proven that white people make up the majority of illegal drug users and a majority of drug dealers. However, for some reason, blacks and latinos about three-fourths of those who get arrested and sentenced for different drug offenses, even though the majority actually committing these felonies are people who are white. It is argued that crime rates are the reason that there is a disproportionate number that there is between those who are really committing the crimes and those who are serving time for them. However, crime rates don’t explain why there is such a big racial difference that we’re faced with in the system.

According to D’Angelo and Douglas 2014, “the Supreme Court has actually granted the police license to discriminate,” (2014. Pg 245). The departments know the backlash they would receive if this information was to be publicized for the general public, so they decided not to, and keep it their own secret. It’s very easy to defend the police and say that racial bias isn’t what they do, and that it isn’t a problem within the police. There can be a handful of other reasons that can been used instead to defend an officers choice to stop and search someone.

While there are many who agree with Alexander and also believe that mass incrimination is a new form of the Jim Crow laws, there are also people, like James Forman Jr., who do not believe this. Forman 2012 argues that, “the analogy generates an incomplete account of mass incarceration- one in which most prisoners are drug offenders, violent crime and its victims merit only passing mention, and white prisoners are largely invisible” (Forman, 2012). Forman believes that although Alexander makes good and important points in her writing, he also believes that she is leaving out a large portion of factors about people who are incarcerated. He doesn’t think that it should be forgotten about the amount of latinos and the amount of white people in prisons, and the different crimes that make someone have a threat to be sentenced to prison time. He believes that the way these writers are comparing the issue of mass incarceration and the old Jim Crow laws just asserts a sense of people have forgotten about history. He is worried that through these comparisons people will forget about the “important aspects of what made the Old Jim Crow Laws so horrible,” (Forman, 2012).

Another large topic of the population in prison is women. More specifically women of color. According to Angela Y. Davis and Cassandra Shaylor 2001, “although women comprise a relatively small percentage of the entire prison population, they constitute, nevertheless, the fastest-growing segment of prisoners,” (Davis, Shaylor 2001). They note that the population of women who are being imprisoned most rapidly are women that are latina, black, Asian American, and indigenous. A big concern that people have is the violence women face in prisons. Davis and Shaylor explains, “women’s prisons are located on a continuum of violence that extends from the officials practices of the state to the spaces of intimate relationships,” (Davis, Shaylor 2001). They also go on to argue how this violence occurs in private prisons as well as public ones, and it is heavily kept from the view of the general public, which makes it a topic that does not get discussed. Davis and Shaylor also go to note that, “prisons are places within which violence occurs on a routine and constant basis; the functioning of the prison depends on it’” (Davis, Shaylor 2001). They believe that this violence heavily affects prisoners mental well-being just as much as their physical one, and believe that it is the biggest reason for mental illness among “poor people”.

There are a multitude of theories about prisons and the criminal justice system. It is no secret that racism is a very large and important factor when discussing these issues because people of color seem to get racially profiled, thrown into the prison system, and all around just mistreated by authorities way more than white people. There is also a debate about whether those who are being sent to jail due to the war on drugs that started in the mid-eighties, are actually victims of the ‘new Jim Crow laws.’ There are is a disproportionate number of those who are latino, black, and native american vs how many are white in prisons. It is often disputed because others believe that people who believe in the new Jim Crow laws, aren’t taking all of the statistics and crimes into account. Now, women in prison is something that is often overlooked, more importantly how there is also a big disproportionate number of how many women of color VS how many white women are sent to prisons. A big concern is that there is more violence that happens to women, specifically women of color, while in prisons and it is not publicized because prisons make sure to keep it a secret from the public.

Reference Page

1. Alexander, M., & West, Cornel. (2012). ​The New Jim Crow​ (ERACCE recommended resource). New York: New Press, The.
2. D’Angelo, Raymond, Douglas, Herbert. 2014. ​Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Race and Ethnicity. New York City: McGraw-Hill Education.
3. Davis, A., & Shaylor, C. (2001). Race, Gender, and the Prison Industrial Complex: California and Beyond. ​Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism,​ ​2​(1), 1-25.
4. Editors, History.com. 2018. ‘Jim Crow Laws’. Retrieved October 11, 2019. (​https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws​).
5. Forman Jr, J. (2012). ​Racial critiques of mass incarceration: Beyond the new Jim Crow​. ​NYUL Rev.​, ​87​, 21.
6. Moore, R. (2017). ​The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness.
7. Macat Library. https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws

The Prison Industrial Complex is seen as the new Jim Crow. Jim Crow laws started as early as 1865, after the slaves were freed due to the thirteenth amendment, which freed about four million people from slavery. The laws around slaves, how, when, and where freed slaves could find work and for how much, was strict. These ‘codes’ throughout the South would appear as a legal way to take away African American’s right to vote, take away their own control of how they lived and traveled. Ex-Confederate soldiers were the main people working as judges and police officers, because of this winning court cases was nearly impossible for African Americans. In jails, prisoners were treated as slaves, and African American offenders almost always received sentences that were longer than white offenders who have committed the same crime.

The work that they were expected to do was so physically demanding and exhausting and constant, that many inmates died even before their sentence was over due to the work. The Jim Crow Laws only continued to grow and expand leading to segregation. Not until the end of World War II did the civil rights really start to take off. Integration of the military was ordered in 1948 by President Harry Truman and educational segregation ended in 1954 as a resuly of the Supreme Court case Brown VS. Board of Education. Then not until 1964, did President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act, which ended segregation and discrimination legally, which were previously institutionalized by Jim Crow laws. Minorities then got the right to vote due to the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and a legal effort to end discrimination when minorities tried to buy, rent, and sell homes was in 1968 with the Fair Housing Act. Unfortunately, even though laws were passed in an effort to end the discrimination that did not mean that it stopped rascism from happening in the United States.

Michelle Alexander, author of ​The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, believes that mass incarceration has a similar political origin than the Jim Crow laws. She says “Both caste systems were born, in part, due to a desire among white elites to exploit the resentments, vulnerabilities, and racial biases of poor and working-class whites for political or economic gain,” (Alexander, 2011). Caste systems are generally associated with an ascribed or predetermined status. S0, for people of color that predetermined status leads to segregation. Alexander also notes that a way white elite’s were trying to deter the hate towards themselves and put it on African Americans instead was by proposing segregation laws. Mass incarceration is another product of a similar type of political move like that one. Alexander (2011) believes that the “most obvious” similarity between current mass incarceration and the old Jim Crow laws, is the legal discrimination. To this day, it’s no secret that there is still racism and discrimination again people of color, despite there being laws that are supposed to be preventing it. Alexander argues that African Americans are relegated to a lower level of the caste system, due to many of them being convicted of a felony before they turn twenty-one, partly due to racism in the criminal justice system and the war on drugs.

About ninety percent of those who are arrested and sentenced to prison over drug offenses are people of color, but mostly latino, and black. The war on drugs have left people and families, both innocent and not, in devastating conditions, such as homelessness, putting children in foster care, and taking away government aide from those in need. According to D’angelo and Douglas 2014, “Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that, in seven states, African Americans constitute 80 percent to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison,” (2014. Pg 243). They also note that in the mid 1980’s when the war on drugs really began, the number of African Americans who were put into jail became higher than ever before, and by 2000 the number was “more than twenty-six times” (D’Angelo and Douglas 2014. Pg 243) the number in the mid 80’s. It has been proven that white people make up the majority of illegal drug users and a majority of drug dealers. However, for some reason, blacks and latinos about three-fourths of those who get arrested and sentenced for different drug offenses, even though the majority actually committing these felonies are people who are white. It is argued that crime rates are the reason that there is a disproportionate number that there is between those who are really committing the crimes and those who are serving time for them. However, crime rates don’t explain why there is such a big racial difference that we’re faced with in the system.

According to D’Angelo and Douglas 2014, “the Supreme Court has actually granted the police license to discriminate,” (2014. Pg 245). The departments know the backlash they would receive if this information was to be publicized for the general public, so they decided not to, and keep it their own secret. It’s very easy to defend the police and say that racial bias isn’t what they do, and that it isn’t a problem within the police. There can be a handful of other reasons that can been used instead to defend an officers choice to stop and search someone.

While there are many who agree with Alexander and also believe that mass incrimination is a new form of the Jim Crow laws, there are also people, like James Forman Jr., who do not believe this. Forman 2012 argues that, “the analogy generates an incomplete account of mass incarceration- one in which most prisoners are drug offenders, violent crime and its victims merit only passing mention, and white prisoners are largely invisible” (Forman, 2012). Forman believes that although Alexander makes good and important points in her writing, he also believes that she is leaving out a large portion of factors about people who are incarcerated. He doesn’t think that it should be forgotten about the amount of latinos and the amount of white people in prisons, and the different crimes that make someone have a threat to be sentenced to prison time. He believes that the way these writers are comparing the issue of mass incarceration and the old Jim Crow laws just asserts a sense of people have forgotten about history. He is worried that through these comparisons people will forget about the “important aspects of what made the Old Jim Crow Laws so horrible,” (Forman, 2012).

Another large topic of the population in prison is women. More specifically women of color. According to Angela Y. Davis and Cassandra Shaylor 2001, “although women comprise a relatively small percentage of the entire prison population, they constitute, nevertheless, the fastest-growing segment of prisoners,” (Davis, Shaylor 2001). They note that the population of women who are being imprisoned most rapidly are women that are latina, black, Asian American, and indigenous. A big concern that people have is the violence women face in prisons. Davis and Shaylor explains, “women’s prisons are located on a continuum of violence that extends from the officials practices of the state to the spaces of intimate relationships,” (Davis, Shaylor 2001). They also go on to argue how this violence occurs in private prisons as well as public ones, and it is heavily kept from the view of the general public, which makes it a topic that does not get discussed. Davis and Shaylor also go to note that, “prisons are places within which violence occurs on a routine and constant basis; the functioning of the prison depends on it’” (Davis, Shaylor 2001). They believe that this violence heavily affects prisoners mental well-being just as much as their physical one, and believe that it is the biggest reason for mental illness among “poor people”.

There are a multitude of theories about prisons and the criminal justice system. It is no secret that racism is a very large and important factor when discussing these issues because people of color seem to get racially profiled, thrown into the prison system, and all around just mistreated by authorities way more than white people. There is also a debate about whether those who are being sent to jail due to the war on drugs that started in the mid-eighties, are actually victims of the ‘new Jim Crow laws.’ There are is a disproportionate number of those who are latino, black, and native american vs how many are white in prisons. It is often disputed because others believe that people who believe in the new Jim Crow laws, aren’t taking all of the statistics and crimes into account. Now, women in prison is something that is often overlooked, more importantly how there is also a big disproportionate number of how many women of color VS how many white women are sent to prisons. A big concern is that there is more violence that happens to women, specifically women of color, while in prisons and it is not publicized because prisons make sure to keep it a secret from the public.

Reference Page

1. Alexander, M., & West, Cornel. (2012). ​The New Jim Crow​ (ERACCE recommended resource). New York: New Press, The.
2. D’Angelo, Raymond, Douglas, Herbert. 2014. ​Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Race and Ethnicity. New York City: McGraw-Hill Education.
3. Davis, A., & Shaylor, C. (2001). Race, Gender, and the Prison Industrial Complex: California and Beyond. ​Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism,​ ​2​(1), 1-25.
4. Editors, History.com. 2018. ‘Jim Crow Laws’. Retrieved October 11, 2019. (​https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws​).
5. Forman Jr, J. (2012). ​Racial critiques of mass incarceration: Beyond the new Jim Crow​. ​NYUL Rev.​, ​87​, 21.
6. Moore, R. (2017). ​The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness.
7. Macat Library. https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws