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A review by youngthespian42
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
4.0
This book was one of a series of books I read to educate myself on the concepts of anti-racism and the current state of oppression for black people in America. New Jim Crow stands wayyy out from the pack. This is not some cultural studies/ critical race theory text that makes lots of reaching claims with little evidence. This is a scholarly text. Michelle Alexander dives deep into the history of racial oppression in America and cites hundreds of sources.
If I had to give one book to summarize where we are at on race in America this is the book. It also dovetails nicely with Woke Racism where McWhorter argues ending the war on drugs is 1 of the 3 things we can do to fix our systems of oppression. I would strongly add a prison abolition addendum to that change, especially after reading Michelle Alexander's book.
This book is dense, long, and dry. To me, it represents actually educating yourself and "doing the work" instead of role-playing with books like "How to be an Anti Racist" or "White Fragility." I think activism is the real work but you can't make a case until you have the facts. As a crude little internet troll screams repeatedly "facts don't care about your feelings" We aren't changing any minds with these cultural theory books. Alexander is the real deal.
If I had to give one book to summarize where we are at on race in America this is the book. It also dovetails nicely with Woke Racism where McWhorter argues ending the war on drugs is 1 of the 3 things we can do to fix our systems of oppression. I would strongly add a prison abolition addendum to that change, especially after reading Michelle Alexander's book.
This book is dense, long, and dry. To me, it represents actually educating yourself and "doing the work" instead of role-playing with books like "How to be an Anti Racist" or "White Fragility." I think activism is the real work but you can't make a case until you have the facts. As a crude little internet troll screams repeatedly "facts don't care about your feelings" We aren't changing any minds with these cultural theory books. Alexander is the real deal.