Final Thoughts - So What Now?

Welcome to my final blog post! I have really enjoyed chronicling the thoughts and ideas that I had while reading the astoundingly powerful book The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. It has opened my eyes greatly to the horrific injustices of the legal system, and the racially-driven problem in the United States of mass incarceration. Throughout most of the book, Michelle Alexander focused on illustrating what exactly the problem is, and how it reached the extent that it is at today. In the last section, which I read this week, she switched gears from what the problem is, to how we can fix it. I think it was the perfect way to end the book, because as a reader, I had continuously been thinking about this question since the first chapter. I also think it was especially important because, as I talked about in some of my earlier posts, Alexander's main goal when writing this book seemed to be to inspire her readers to enact change. So my biggest takeaway from the book was essentially, "we have an appalling problem in this country, so what can I, as a citizen, do about it?" As it turns out, many things.

One very important step that Michelle Alexander emphasized is admitting that race is a prominent factor in the problem of mass incarceration. As she wrote, “We must stop debating crime policy as though it were purely about crime. People must come to understand the racial history and origins of mass incarceration - the many ways our conscious and unconscious biases have distorted our judgements over the years about what is fair, appropriate, and constructive when responding to drug use and drug crime” (page 238). Like in the Ted talk that I watched today - Verna Myers, the African-American speaker, made the point that everybody has some bias, whether a lot of it or a small amount, whether implicit or explicit, and that the solution is to accept it and go from there, rather than pretending that it doesn’t exist. The problem in our society of hiding from this bias, and from the concept of race altogether, does much more harm than good. According to Alexander, “[o]ne study found that some whites are so loath to talk about race and so fearful of violating racial etiquette that they indicate a preference for avoiding all contact with black people” (page 238). With racially-driven problems like mass incarceration, accepting that race is a factor is the only way that change will happen. When people turn a blind eye due to fear of being racially insensitive, they allow the problem to flourish, instead of get better. Alexander explained how when racial justice advocates want to fight mass incarceration, there is constantly “bait” for them that, if taken, will not do justice to the severity of the issue. This bait is seen in the declining crime rates, and less strict drug laws (such as legalization of marijuana in some states), that create the appearance that the problem is getting better, and that it can be fixed without bringing race into it. However, as Alexander pointed out, “[t]he prevailing caste system cannot be successfully dismantled with a purely race-neutral approach” (page 239). Eventually, as she alluded to, the debate would come down to race, even if it was unconscious, and no effective change would be implemented. So I am challenging myself to keep this in mind from now on. To remember that embracing the impact that racial injustice has on our society as a whole, instead of ignoring it, is the only way effective change is going to happen. And now I challenge you to do the same.

The next way that we can use our knowledge of this problem for reform may seem almost counterproductive, but it is important to keep in mind. Affirmative action is a diversity initiative, that is basically a policy that helps those who are discriminated against, such as African-Americans. It is generally viewed by racial justice advocates as a positive thing, however Michelle Alexander brought up the idea that it may be limiting in ways. She questioned whether it “has functioned more like a racial bribe than a tool of racial justice” (page 244). She claimed that it “masks the severity of racial inequality in America, leading to the optimistic assessments of the future for African Americans . . . Although some African Americans are doing very well-thanks to affirmative action-as a group, in many respects, African-Americans are doing no better than they were when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and riots swept inner cities across America. The child poverty rate is actually higher today than it was in 1968. Unemployment rates in black communities rival those in Third World countries. And that is with affirmative action” (page 246)! To me, the point Alexander is making here is not that affirmative action is a bad thing, but simply that it is only a small remedy to a much larger issue. As Americans who understand this, it is important for us to keep this in mind throughout the fight for racial equality, especially regarding mass incarceration. Just like it is easy to pretend that racial bias is not a factor of mass incarceration, it is easy for those of us who don’t see these obstacles that African-Americans face, to downplay them. Especially with things like affirmative action, it is not difficult to fall under the illusion that we are putting an end to racial inequality. Although it is true in some aspects, it is not exactly the truth, which this book made very clear. Allowing racial inequality problems such as mass incarceration to fall under the radar is exactly what we must not do. This book has made it very clear that mass incarceration is not going to go away overnight. It will only end when we choose to act on the knowledge that we possess about this problem, and to accept that, as unfortunate as it is, the problems of racial inequality in America are at a dangerous high.

So those are just some important things to keep in mind, as you go out into the world after reading this post. Michelle Alexander did not seem to lay out any extremely specific plans of action, but rather general ideas, and important things to keep in mind, as I discussed above. I think that this was done purposely, because she wants her readers to take the information they have been given, and figure out what they as individuals can do to help the situation. As a white American, I have never faced the problems that Alexander addressed in The New Jim Crow, or even realized the depth of them. After reading this book however, I am now much more aware of them. And I hope that you are too. This book was long and very dense at times, so I hope that if you don’t get a chance to read it for yourself, you have gained some important knowledge from my blog. My goal was to communicate some of the most important ideas from the book in my posts, in hopes of continuing the education process that Michelle Alexander started with this book. As people who are in a much more fortunate situation than the Americans that were written about in this book, it is our job to help fight for those who cannot fight enough for themselves. To use our voices to continue spreading the word about problems like mass incarceration - ones that have a huge impact on many people, but go unnoticed by the majority of the country. That is what I have taken away from this book, and I really hope you have too. Thank you for reading my blog! I have really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. To conclude, I’ll leave you with a passage from the book that really stood out to me, one that I hope to always keep it in mind in the future.

Seeing race is not the problem. Refusing to care for the people we see is the problem. The fact that the meaning of race may evolve over time or lose much of its significance is hardly a reason to be struck blind. We should hope not for a colorblind society but instead for a world in which we can see each other fully, learn from each other, and do what we can to respond to each other with love. That was King’s dream - a society that is capable of seeing each of us, as we are, with love. That is a goal worth fighting for. (244)

Citations:

How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them. Performance by Verna Myers, Ted.com.