"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" is a book written by Michelle Alexander, which highlights the historical oppression of African Americans from slavery to today's criminal justice system. Alexander argues that the US criminal justice system has perpetuated racial inequality and discrimination against African Americans, in ways similar to the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation and discrimination against Black Americans in the past.
One way that Alexander demonstrates this historical oppression is by tracing the legacy of slavery and its impact on African Americans. She argues that slavery created a racial caste system that has persisted over time, and that this caste system was maintained and reinforced by various systems of control and oppression, including the criminal justice system. Alexander argues that slavery was followed by a system of convict leasing, in which Black people were arrested and then leased out as laborers to plantations, mines, and factories. This system of convict leasing was later replaced by the Jim Crow laws, which created a racial hierarchy in which Black people were systematically discriminated against in every aspect of life.
Alexander also demonstrates the historical oppression of African Americans by examining the impact of the war on drugs and mass incarceration on Black communities. She argues that the war on drugs has been used as a pretext for the criminalization and mass incarceration of African Americans, who are disproportionately arrested, convicted, and sentenced for drug offenses. Alexander argues that the criminal justice system has become a new form of Jim Crow, in which Black people are subjected to discriminatory policies and practices that are designed to maintain racial hierarchy and control.
In conclusion, Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow" highlights the historical oppression of African Americans by tracing the legacy of slavery and its impact on the criminal justice system. She argues that the racial caste system created by slavery has been maintained and reinforced over time by various systems of control and oppression, including the criminal justice system. Therefore, Alexander's work serves as a powerful critique of the US criminal justice system and its impact on racial inequality and discrimination against African Americans.