The New Jim Crow Laws

The New Jim Crow Laws

Introduction

Jim Crow Laws were structures and regulations that encouraged racial discrimination against people of color. The legal laws that existed for over a hundred years were meant to marginalize African American people denying them the right to education, voting right, and even the right to get a job. Anyone who defied these laws faced the justice system. In the 20^th century, these laws still prospered in society, oppressively encouraging violence. There increased riots as such white hate groups, which dominated the landscape, denying opportunities for educated black people. Black lynching increased in the South, prompting migration to the North. The North still did not grant the freedom they wished for with politicians like senator Allen Granbery Thurman fighting reconstruction eras that benefited African Americans.

After world war two, there increased civil rights activities in black communities. Integration in the military, ruling out of educational segregation, discrimination against owning and selling homes, and voting rights were all ended by civil rights actions, and then-President Lyndon signed the Civil Rights Acts in 1964. The move led to an end of the laws of Jim Crow in the books. Though these laws were outlawed, the justice system, and societal activities towards activities, racial related continue to flourish to date.

Alexander’s Take

Alexander uses her book in the quest to express the effect of Jim Crow Laws today, argues that those laws are still in action, citing that they are not ended but have only been redesigned. In her book, Alexander talks that about continued racial disparities, social injustices, and other human benefits towards people of color. There has been a continued classification of color people rendering them second class citizens. Using the war on drugs to explain her argument, Alexander writes that it has been used to target people of color and that they end up branded criminals compared to the white race. While Referring to the era as the colorblindness era, accusations have increasingly been made to black people when involving drug cases with an assumed perception that black people are guilty of such crime while in the pretense that they do not see color. Colorblindness, according to Alexander, has opened a back way for racial prejudices to prosper. Talking of another issue, Alexander discusses the social system that it has continued to discriminate against people of different social class and origin. Even with the developed justice system and civil rights, people still are unable to get fair trials in courts, and up to forty percent of the American prisons are comprised of black and color people. Alexander challenges the belief that the social justice system is free now, claiming that they still operate with the ideas of Jim Crow laws; thus, the rules are still existing in the present.

In modern American society, the rise of there still exists even more severe issues of racial discrimination and social justice issues. There are some famous quotes like that of William Faulkner, “The past is not dead. It is not even past” that are associated with this research study. Such insights are proven to be accurate when it comes to issues of racism and the social systems of American history. Using this research to analyze the existence of the new Jim Crow laws in the current society, Alexander’s book becomes the basis of reference Alexander in her book aims at proving that these vices still exist within the American community. By analyzing the text as written by Alexander, I would like to support her sentiments as presented that the Jim Crow Laws still exist.

Racism

Racism in modern American society has taken the center of most events in the community. Individuals are continuously racially profiled in different circumstances and occasions, which include; war on drugs, criminal justice, colorblindness. When talking about racial issues, many other aspects arise that are involved in it; Education, voting rights, employment opportunities, and civil rights are some of the significant problems.

Drug wars

Since the mid-1980s, the American criminal department has used “aggressive laws to reduce the abuse and distribution” of drugs (Fellner 257). Showing his surprise on how a race-neutral activity has turned out to wage war against black people since they are inappropriately arrested and convicted on drug charges. In the study, Fellner says that today, “when White Americans are asked to close their eyes and reflect on a drug abuser, they would not picture a white man doing drugs like snorting cocaine or the white college students doing any drugs but they always have a vision of a shabby African American doing drugs and smoking crack including young children in the street corners trying to distribute drugs.” According to surveys by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2006, showing an overall percentage that white people who abuse and engage in drug distribution is higher than the black population with the same problem. Alexander disputes that the fight against substance abuse and distribution today has “concealed racism,” but it’s instead structured into racism. Without the objective of targeting ethnic or groups of race and condemnation by the court of law, any legal procedures, and avenues that discriminate against color or origin. In her book, The New Jim Crow, Alexander encourages people to try and understand past the idea of not seeing color but to understand how the issue of racism is handled by the agencies involved in policy formulation for drug issues and try to experience the reality of things from their immediate vicinity. This has resulted in many misappropriate criminalized black people. Loriso & Hughey (856) wrote that the fight against drug use in America “has always been part of a social control system,” which targets black communities and low-income households. Even though their statement has been contested, they affirm that history had laws designed with racial motivation and practices among white people who shifted the blame of substance abuse problems and associated crimes to other communities of the black origin. This, therefore, proves that the Jim Crow laws may not exist in the books, but they are still present in society.

Colorblindness

After banning laws that discriminated against people of color, the ideology of colorblindness was developed. Currently, it is unacceptable to identify one as racist since “white people pretend not to see color,” but “there still exists discrimination” through social, economic, and institutional practices (Wingfield n.p). He explains that black people have continued to face racial injustice with the pretense of colorblindness through soft skills that disadvantage black people in the job market. At the same time, they hoard better opportunities for white peers. On this issue, Alexander says that colorblindness has encouraged law enforcers to “crackdown on black communities with impunity”; even prosecutors with racists motives use colorblindness as an excuse to eliminate black jurors from their duties and even politicians use it as a leeway to come up with policies that are racists intended by providing them legal protection. The Atlantic’s Friedersdorf contends there is some level of colorblindness that has been ignored in the social system. He describes it as ‘The Academic Left’ is primarily involved in finding fault in colorblindness rather than concentrate on issues of racial hatred like in the case of the first black president and conspiracy theories or the convenience of labeling certain ethnicity criminals despite their historical records of minimal incidences of these crimes.

Criminal Justice

There has been and still is the mishandling of crimes that are racially profiled. The police do not address the severe concern in investigating these crimes to ensure justice to the accused. This is according to a report by the ENAR of the study conducted between 2014- 2018 on the justice gap between racism and criminal justice systems in Europe. “Racially profiled crime accused persons” always end up “not getting the justice they deserve.” In 2018, a letter by Bishops from the United States Conference of Catholic church cited the existence of criminal injustice towards black people and other people of color. In the letter, the Bishops mentioned “the police shootings of unarmed black Americans” case, which is on the rise and the massive number of black and people of color in the prison system, which is alarming. Defending them that most of these people have done nothing wrong. Alexander discusses this in her book by explaining that “racially motivated accusations are not defended well by the court system” unless one can provide proof of racism attached, they are unfairly criminalized.

The Social Systems

The social system is the interrelated set of elements that proceed to form culture and society. These elements form the basis of functions in a social setting. The social network in American history has continued to be affected by injustices and unfair treatment of people based on their color, ethnicity, labor issues, and gender-based discrimination.  In a bid to explain that Jim Crow laws still exist in the current society, Alexander explores the court system, property ownership, and human rights aspects as the major issues involved in the injustice in the social order. Even on this matter, racism takes the basis of the discussions as it is evident and involved in each subject discussed.

The Justice System

The criminal, together with the court system, was created during the Jim Crow era, following the laws that existed. The modern criminal justice system has “preserved the racial orders” and ensured “they still carry the day,” putting black people to the same place they were before the development of civil rights and freedom (Balko n.p). In The Washington Post, Balko discusses that systems have continued to produce racially intended outcomes. He talks about the experience of a United States senator who had experienced an ordeal of being pulled over several times by the police claiming he is a suspicious black man in a car. This was a racist intention as black people are most times assumed to be driving away from committing a crime. Alexander writes about how the police “target poor black communities,” whom they arrest, take to court, and because they cannot afford decent lawyers, “resort to pleading guilty.” This has resulted in mass incarceration and a massive number of black people behind bars. Although discrimination has reduced in criminal justice over the past decades, the American Sociological Association, through their research, held the position that “racial and ethnic biasness has been deeply rooted in the justice system in America.” The disadvantaged and minority groups still face unfair rulings in court, harsh sentencing terms, and detention after being subjected to the longer justice process.

Human Rights

After world war two, there have been many increases in Human rights activities, which have allowed black people the right to vote and reduced segregation. Even so, the Jim Crow laws still tend to be evident in the treatment of people of color who still experience unjust treatment and violation of their rights. Alexander addresses the issue of human right violation by mentioning the numerous incarcerations of black people whom after release from prisons are ripped off their right to vote. This is contributed by the racially prompted by the war of drugs, which then leaves most of these black accused labeled as felons. Even though segregation does not openly exist with no ‘whites-only’ signs and support from prominent leaders, (Allen n.p) suggests that Americans still are tasked to accept the reality that racial segregation is still alive. In his research, Allen puts insight into the fact that schools still have a disparity in population between whites, blacks, and Latinos. Neighborhoods still exist with the notion that individual blocks belong to blacks only and that black people living in white areas are always viewed as threats and are not entirely welcome. He concludes that there exist two Americas, one for the whites, the other for people of color. Richard Rothstein’s (134) research about modern segregation proves that people are still segregated due to the ‘economic accident,’ poverty which leads them to live in isolated neighborhoods and send their children to equally divided schools. Just that it is a coincidence that most of these unfortunate people are black. This, therefore, implies “segregation is still existing” like during the Jim Crow times just that it is “economic segregation.” The Human rights of the black population continue to face violations with issues like ‘living while black,’ ‘driving while black’ and ‘running while black’ have been used to discriminate against them. Blacks’ rights have been violated even in the current decade, but the justice systems show a lagging attitude to resolve these issues. Even though the supreme court has overtime developed laws that protect black citizens from such discriminations, enforcing these laws at low court levels has not been a success, maybe because of the indifferent attitude of the persons involved in its implementation or the sensitivity of cases presented.

Structural Racism

Race and ethnicity have continued to experience inequalities in American society. Expanding into structures in the community like quality healthcare, housing, employment opportunities, and education, black people have up to date experience challenges resulting from this form of racism. In the fight against drugs, no particular group is singed out. Yet, the collaboration of independent policies and laws in the fight against narcotics results in a highly racial outcome. Structural racism embedded in the battle against drug use aids in keeping most black individuals in prison and out of the voting booth. Alexander explains how “a birdcage illustrates the structural racism” faced by many black Americans. In other words, what appears harmless from one perspective is the primary cause of racial injustice from another. In a research article, Salter, et al. (153) acknowledges “the extent of racism into the structures of the modern worlds.” They explain racism not just as a difference in ethnicity or color but as discrimination embedded in the practices, institutions, artifacts, and ideologies. “There are still indicators of black residential segregation with most of their population settled in Metropolitan areas” (Smelser et al. 399). The high level of segregation of black communities leads to apparent racial isolation.

Conclusion

Alexander uses her book to prove that Jim Crow Laws still exist, and it is clear they even do live in modern American society. This research study, in support of Alexander’s sentiments, has provided more insight into prejudices and themes of racism and in the social systems that exist today. Even though the impact of these laws may not be as strong as they were before world war two and development of civil societies, they are still in the American systems and impact felt by the minority with drug-fighting laws targeting mostly the black population and the court systems always pay less attention to racially motivated cases. These injustices towards black communities have led to movements like #BlackLivesMatter, which are protests aimed at condemning police brutality and senseless murder of black citizens, which the justice system does not bother to solve. Issues of prejudice proposed by the Jim Crow Laws do not only affect the black communities but extends to other cities like the Latin Americans, Asian American, and the Mexican American communities.

Works Cited

Alexander, Michelle. “The New Jim Crow.” Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 9 (2011): 7. Print.

Allen, Reniqua. “Our 21st-century segregation: We’re still divided by race.” The Guardian (2013). Print.

American Sociological Association. “Race, ethnicity, and the criminal justice system.” ASA Series on How Race and Ethnicity Matter (2007). Print

Balko, Radley. “There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal-justice system is racist. Here’s the proof.” Washington Post, September 18 (2018). Print

Fellner, Jamie. “Race, drugs, and law enforcement in the United States.” Stan. L. & Pol’y Rev. 20 (2009): 257. Print.

Rosino, Michael L., and Matthew W. Hughey. “The War on Drugs, Racial Meanings, and Structural Racism: A Holistic and Reproductive Approach.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 77.3-4 (2018): 849-892. Print.

Salter, Phia S., Glenn Adams, and Michael J. Perez. “Racism in the structure of everyday worlds: A cultural-psychological perspective.” Current directions in psychological science 27.3 (2018): 150-155. Print.

Smelser, Neil J., William Julius Wilson, and Faith Mitchell. America Becoming: racial trends and their consequences, volume 1. National Academies Press, 2001. Chapter 13, 391-433. Print.