The following paper will be based on the articles from October 3, describing The African American Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration. After reading these articles, I have learned that the rate of marriage in the Black community is lower than that of other Americans, and is continuing to decline. The reasons for this include student debt, marriage penalties from welfare programs, and the biggest threat to the Black community, mass incarceration. The decline in Black marriage rates does not mean they have no desire to get married, in fact studies show that Black Americans still believe in marriage. This decline is rooted primarily in the social factors listed above. 81 percent of African Americans who graduate with a bachelor’s degree have high amounts of debt, compared to 64 percent of other graduates. Surveys show that 15 percent of people delay marriage because of student loans.
As a result, Blacks will be more likely to postpone marriage, because they have higher amounts of debt. The next reason for the marriage decline is marriage penalties from welfare programs. When two people combine their incomes, it is normally a positive thing, but for poor Americans, which tend to be African Americans or people of color, this can be a negative. Because there are such strict constraints on welfare programs, if a person gets married they may no longer qualify for benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, daycare, public housing, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). As a result, some Black couples may refrain from getting married in order to keep their much-needed benefits. Finally, the most detrimental social factor contributing to the decline of marriage in the Black community is the mass incarceration of Black men. The prison population, which is predominately Black men, has tripled since the Great Recession in 2007. In relation to marriage, the risk of divorce among men in prison reaches 50 percent after a few years behind bars. In addition to that, when a couple is unmarried and the father is incarcerated, they are 37 percent less likely to be married one year after the child’s birth. The absence of Black men does not only impact marriage rates.
The 1.5 million Black men that are missing due primarily to incarceration and death leave large gaps in their communities and families. Although death rates are declining, incarceration rates are making up for it and leaving Black children fatherless. This absence causes Black women to rely on themselves and support the household on their own. Although having Black men behind bars is negative, it has pushed Black women to work harder and further their educations. In order to address the issue of declining marriage rates in the Black community and the issue of mass incarceration, we must go to the root of the problem, which is Black men being arrested at much higher rates than any other race. The first step to resolving this issue is the decriminalization of marijuana. Slowly but surely the United States is making marijuana legal, therefore the individuals behind bars for marijuana charges, which are predominately Black men, should be released. Secondly, we must decrease the size of law enforcement as a whole and provide more adequate training to the remainder. If law enforcement decreases and things normally left up to police are placed in the hands of drug rehabilitation facilities and mental health facilities, then people will be rehabilitated after making a mistake, rather than criminalized for it.
These factors working together, as well as holding police officers accountable for their actions, will lessen the number of Black men in the prison system and allow them to be the great students, fathers, and husbands they have the potential to be. Black Americans are like other Americans in their desire to have normal and fulfilled lives in which they obtain an education, have a career, get married, and have children. Black Americans are different from other Americans in the fact that these opportunities may be taken away from them at any moment due to social factors that are beyond their control. These factors include mass incarceration, an unfair education system, and an unfair welfare system, among many other things. The declining marriage rates and the increased incarceration rates have negative impacts on generations and generations of Black children. The only way to combat this unfair treatment is to fight for equality.
We must fight for the decriminalization of marijuana and prison reform. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains” – Assata Shakur. Part II In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow she describes what she believes to be the root of the racial caste system that exists in America. Alexander explains that the beginning of this system was slavery, moving onto Jim Crow, and finally to the New Jim Crow. According to Alexander, before one racial caste system even fails, another is implemented to keep Blacks at the bottom of the social food chain. The following essay will describe Alexander’s arguments in regard to the evolution of the racial caste system, the characteristics of these systems, Alexander’s arguments on mass movements of formerly incarcerated people, and finally strengths and weaknesses of the text as a whole. America was rooted in the racial caste system, according to Alexander. This racial caste system will continue to reinvent itself, Alexander claims. The constitution itself was based on the effort to maintain slavery and high political and economic status to powerful whites. To protect whites’ right to own their Black “property”, federalism was implemented.
Federalism is the division of power between states and federal government. Slavery was originally not based on race, but Africans were desirable because they were the easiest target. Alexander states that Native Americans were viewed as less than whites, but fought too hard to be enslaved, and European immigrants were lacking in numbers. By the mid 1770’s, the bond labor system had become the racial caste system, and Blacks were officially viewed as the inferior race, even more than Native Americans. To rationalize the heinous treatment of slaves, white supremacy was born. Viewing slaves as the lesser race, or even less than human, made slavery acceptable in the minds of whites. After the death of slavery, Alexander dives into the next phase of the racial caste system. When African Americans were finally “freed” from their bondage, whites created a new form of oppression, known as Jim Crow to “redeem” the South after abolition. White Southerners lynched, bombed, and committed mob violence against free Blacks, and the government did nothing to stop it.
Blacks were arrested for petty crimes and “mischief.” Prisoners were then sold for labor and often left to die from exhaustion due to shameful work conditions. This was the nation’s first prison boom. Segregation was also a part of the Jim Crow Era and was used to separate poor whites and Blacks. Jim Crow came to be viewed as the natural order and “final settlement.” The next and current form of the racial caste system described by Alexander is the New Jim Crow Era. This era is marked by criminalization of Blacks and mass incarceration. During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans were viewed as violating law and order. It was argued by whites and by law enforcement that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was causing crime rates to increase. Politicians and law enforcement did not try to hide their racist motives behind the law and order tactic and proposed legislation at first, but eventually became less transparent. Law and order was used as a political tactic and turned poor whites and Blacks against each other.
Alexander explains that poor whites fell into the idea that people who were impacted should care for themselves instead of relying on society. Next, in the early 80’s, Reagan started the War on Drugs and federal law enforcement budgets instantly increased. Drug prevention and education programs were eliminated. The raise in law enforcement budget caused the amount of people incarcerated to increase. Next, Clinton pushed for federal housing to take resources away from anyone who had a criminal history, raising homelessness. This criminalization of Blacks and racist policies continue today and contribute to mass incarceration. At the end of chapter 6, Michelle Alexander explains that a mass movement to end Jim Crow will only be successful if it is led by formerly incarcerated individuals. I agree with this partially. I believe that formerly incarcerated individuals will be the most passionate about the issue of mass incarceration and should be at the forefront of that movement.
Formerly incarcerated people will have the ability to recall their own experiences and gain a bigger support base. On the other hand, there are more aspects of the New Jim Crow than mass incarceration. Another is police brutality, so therefore people who have been mistreated by police or family of those who have been murdered by law enforcement should be the leaders of this specific movement. Just as people who have been incarcerated will best represent that community, those who have been impacted by police brutality will best represent their community. These groups, and many others working together will be the demise of the New Jim Crow. Other actions that can be taken to eliminate the New Jim Crow include peaceful protests. When a young Black man is murdered by police or someone is wrongfully incarcerated, people protest, but often their efforts are not consistent and are forgotten. The key is consistency and forcing everyone to listen. If we want change we must fight until policy is changed and until everyone is held accountable for the mistreatment of the Black community. Michelle Alexander’s journey into the racial caste system through The New Jim Crow provides many useful ideas and information for African American Studies.
One example, is the incredible detail of how the racial caste system started, and how it has progressed to the place it is in today. Providing this background allows the reader to fully understand the history of Blacks’ experiences in this country. That being said, there are far too many positive aspects of The New Jim Crow to list and I believe every single page of the book contributes something meaningful to African American Studies. I learned so much from reading this non-fiction book. I can confidently say it provided me with information that my history books purposely left out in high school. I was enlightened and every piece of information told me more about why I am the young Black woman I am today. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander provided an in-depth description of African Americans’ past.
This past started with slavery and the development of white supremacy, continued with the Jim Crow Era, and continues with the New Jim Crow Era today. Slavery marked the worst part of African American history, in which Blacks had no freedom and were viewed as animals and property. Blacks’ troubles continued when slavery was abolished and they were segregated, imprisoned, and worked to death. The current stage consists of Blacks being in constant fear of law enforcement and being imprisoned for life on drug charges or being murdered by a police officer. In order to end this New Jim Crow, the Black community as a whole must unite in a mass movement led by families of slain Black men and formerly incarcerated people. The New Jim Crow gave an incredible description of the plight of Black people throughout history and what we go through on a daily basis. I believe it is a valuable asset to any college African American Studies class and even any high school history class.
