The article, “The Black Family in The Age of Mass Incarnation” is a piece explaining how the new age of mass incarnation has been a big hassle and burden on black families everywhere. The article had a great deal of detail in it, a ton of research was included that was eye-opening and mind bottling. One key point addressed in the article was that the way the jails and prisons are set up is to constrain black life and propel white supremacy. There has been an ongoing myth that black individuals have a higher criminal rate than whites, while this is false, many blacks are getting put behind bars every day for things white individuals do not even get looked at twice for doing. As we have learned, getting locked up stays on one’s record forever and there is no way of uncovering it. The article stated that, “the black man without a record fared worse than a white man with one” this goes to show how ignorant the world is for not looking past the simple color of someone’s skin. I found that statement heartbreaking because it should have never been this way and it should not have gotten this out of control to where this stuff is overlooked.
The article also emphasized that the government has turned to incarnation as the solution to all of the problems. Based on studies and facts, the inclining rates or incarnation does not even correlate with the rates crime, so having these individuals behind bars is not doing anything besides costing the taxpayers thousands of dollars. When individuals behind bars are releases, their lives become extremely difficult. A lot of these people cannot get jobs because having “criminal” on your record is almost an instant no, therefore many become homeless and are forced to live in the streets or some type of shelter. This is very sad because after these people serve their time, they should be free, yet they can give all their efforts and still not be good enough to change themselves to who they want to be because their past is still strongly affecting them. It was stated that in order to get any change that we must reduce the rates of incarnation and we need to be less harsh on violent and nonviolent offenders; also only put individuals behind bars if they truly deserve it, avoid putting people behind bars for small incidents and try other methods to help them instead.
The New Jim Crow argues that mass incarnation is a big issue, because of this there is a large-scale denial; colorblindness is a big reason of this. This is not good because it blinds the public from what is going on, they cannot see the problems race has in society, because of this, they cannot see nor acknowledge the problems that come from mass incarceration. As things progress, they are forced to take on more legal causes and civil rights organizations have drastically become disconnected from the communities they represent. It has gotten to the point where public defenders just want people to plead guilty so it looks good on their records and they can move on to their next case. Many say civil right advocates should take the easy way out and work harder on easy winning cases while not using resources on people who don’t deserve them, criminals.
Due to the plain scale, criminal justice reform cannot happen through legal battles alone. Closing prisons would cause many individuals to be out of work due to the high number of jobs that they require and provide. Ending the system of mass incarceration also means ending the War on Drugs, since the two are so closely linked. Yet the War on Drugs is now deeply shaved and imprinted in all levels of law enforcement. The public sees no problems with any of this, they are blinded by the ongoing opinions of society and fail to see the big problems dealing with mass incarcerations. Any movement that aims to end mass incarceration must acknowledge that it is a racial caste system, not just a way to control crime. The War on Drugs strictly relates to unemployment and poverty. A problem for mass incarceration is that it’s ineffective and expensive and overall not a good strategy. Looking back through recent history, it would have served both sides to create a union around economic and social justice. This would have stopped history from repeating itself and allowing patterns to continue. It seems to be human nature that allows one to cling tightly to advantages in society even if it causes others to suffer.
The first part of the video states that race is not real because our genetic markers have no evidence that defines race. All of our genetics is telling us that that’s not the case and that there are not genetic markers that are in all that of a specific race nor that defines race. Race is not based on biology but rather it is an idea that we prescribe to biology. There is no scientific basis on the aspect of “race”. genetically we are not very different and in fact the most similar when compared to other creatures. The video states that there is not one single physical feature, including skin color, which would identify them as negro. There is no measurement of race. Of the small amount of variation in our genes, there is opt to be as much difference in colored people and colored than with colored people and white people. Any two individuals, in any so called race, may be as different from each other, as they are from any individual in another so called race. Racial beliefs have always been tied to social ideas and policy.
After all, if differences between groups are natural, then nothing can or should be done to correct for unequal outcomes. Scientific literature of the late 19th and early 20th century explicitly championed such a view, and many prominent scientists devoted countless hours to documenting racial differences and promoting man’s natural hierarchy. Although today such ideas are outmoded, it is still popular to believe in innate racial traits rather than look elsewhere to explain group differences. We all know the myths and stereotypes – natural Black athletic superiority, musical ability among Asians – but are they really true on a biological level? If not, why do we continue to believe them? Race may not be biological, but it is still a powerful social idea with real consequences for people’s lives.
