The New Jim Crow PDF 2010: Mass Incarceration

## The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness **Michelle Alexander** **2010** ### The Rebirth of Care The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 was a brief moment of freedom for the slaves of the South, but they were quickly returned to a status akin to slavery under Jim Crow...

## The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness **Michelle Alexander** **2010** ### The Rebirth of Care The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 was a brief moment of freedom for the slaves of the South, but they were quickly returned to a status akin to slavery under Jim Crow Laws. Few find it surprising that Jim Crow arose. But scholars today, like Michelle Alexander, point out that similar political dynamics may have produced another caste system in the years following Jim Crow, which exists today. **Racism Is Highly Adaptable** The system of racial caste evolves and becomes more adaptable over time. Changes in the legal framework of American society have resulted in new “rules of the game” which are justified by new rhetoric, new language, and a new social consensus, but they still produce similar results. This is called "preservation through transformation." **The Birth of Slavery** * The concept of race is a relatively recent development. * European colonialism brought the idea of race to America. * The colonial population initially consisted of white and back bondsmen. * In the early colonial period, indentured servitude was the primary form of labor. * The demand for land brought about the need to eliminate the "savage" Native American population. * Plantation owners began to use African slaves and soon turned away from using indentured servants. * The planter elite shifted its strategy to maintain dominance by: * importing more black slaves directly from Africa. * extending privileges to poor whites in order to create a wedge between them and black slaves. * The planter system became increasingly dependent on slavery. **A Racial Caste System is Born** By the mid-1770s, a racial caste system predicated on slavery had formed. This system was based on the belief that Africans were a lesser race, lacking intelligence and other human qualities. The Constitution was based upon a compromise regarding the prevailing racial caste system: federalism. Federalism, which is the division of power between the states and the federal government, was designed to protect the institution of slavery and the political power of slaveholding states. This is seen in the way proportional representation in Congress and the method of determining an electoral college winner were designed to specifically safeguard slaveholding interests. Under this system, slaves were not considered real whole human beings, but were classified as three-fifths of a man. This was a racist fiction upon which the entire structure of American democracy was founded.