The New Jim Crow

“During Black History Month, Americans congratulate themselves for having put an end to discrimination against African Americans.”

                The Civil War freed the slaves. It was supposed to be after the Civil War that Blacks were supposed to be equal to Whites but they were still discriminated against and segregated from the “white” society. But then America went through an intense Civil Rights Movement and the Blacks were able to gain more rights and segregation was declared illegal. Because of this one would believe that everything would be just fine in today’s world. That whites and blacks would be equal in everything that happens, but sadly this is not the case.

                Even though our society does not practice segregation openly, there is still a covert practice of segregation. This segregation is based off of many things including level of education, annual income and race. The sad truth is that racial segregation still exists in our society. It is structured by the White Racial frame which is discussed in a previous blog. Michelle Alexander talks about this segregation as an unfortunate reality that “manifests itself not only in individual attitudes and stereotypes, but also in the basic structure of society.”  She is saying that segregation is not just an issue with an individual but it is an issue that is ingrained in our society.

The cases of Trayvon Martin or Eric Garner or Michael Brown come to mind. These three individuals were racially stereotyped and they suffered the ultimate penalty because of it. Say for example if a white person had committed the same crime as Michael Brown would he have been shot? Or say a white person committed the same crime as Eric Garner, would the white person have been choked out with a strangle hold? Or what about if a white teenager had been walking around with a hoodie, would he have been perceived as a threat and shot? Michelle Alexander talks about this issue but she talks about the war on drugs. She points out that blacks who commit some sort of drug crime will be given a harsh punishment while whites who commit the same crime will be given a light punishment if they are even punished at all. She cites a studied that in which in 1999 only 992 black men received a bachelor’s degree from Illinois state universities while roughly 7,000 black men were released from the state prison system the following year just for drug offenses.

                Alexander says that “many of the forms of discrimination the relegated African Americans to an inferior caste during Jim Crow continue to apply to huge segments of the black population today- provided they are first labeled felons.” It is fairly easy for blacks to be labeled as a felon. Because many live in a perpetuating cycle of crime it is hard for them to leave. And I do not mean to pass prejudice while writing this. I know there are several blacks who are successful and do not fit this stereotype. But it cannot be denied that there are still several communities in which blacks who are not well-off will tend to drift to and it is in these communities that the cycle is perpetuated. And it is these communities that whites will base their perception of blacks.

If a person goes to prison, regardless of race, it will be difficult to obtain a job after being released. Blacks are persecuted more than whites are. Alexander makes the point that “ex-offenders are banned or severely restricted from employment in a large number of professions, job categories, and fields by professional licensing statues, rules, and practices that discriminate against potential employees with felony records.” Because ex-prisoners have a hard time getting a job, many fall back into old habits and end up back in jail. It’s a never ending cycle and most victims of this cycle happen to be black.

Nothing is being done about covert segregation or systemic racism because the ones who have the power to do something do not use their power to fix the wrong that exists. Alexander states that “denial is facilitated by persistent racial segregation in housing and schools, by political demagoguery, by racialized media imagery.” She says we see only what we want to see and wear blinders to avoid seeing the rest. This has been true about slavery, genocide torture and every form of systemic oppression.