Context
Before delving into the complex context in which "The New Jim Crow" was created, it is necessary to discuss five pivotal moments in American history that directly correlate to the book’s emergence.
The first moment is the abolishment of slavery by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The constitutional abolishment of slavery created a loophole, being the 13th amendment in which stated that slavery and/or involuntary labour were acceptable as punishment for convicted criminals. At the time the most common criminal offense was vagrancy which happened to disproportionately affect former slaves as the economy was reacting to the new market forces thus allowing them to be criminalized.
The second moment is the creation and portrayal of Jim Crow. From the 1830s until the 1840s, American actor Thomas Dartmouth Rice created the racialized character of Jim Crow, modeled after slaves, by wearing black face on stage and acting in ways that perpetuated and further encouraged discrimination. Jim Crow would come to symbolize many more discriminatory and dangerous practices that would allow for systemic racism to thrive in the United States.
The third defining moment is that of the Jim Crow era of segregation in America. From the 1890s until the 1960s, segregation was legally enforced across the American South as well as the Northern states, despite their best efforts to be disassociated with the era. Jim Crow laws impacted every aspect of life from stripping African Americans of their voting rights, creating segregated schools, businesses, water fountains, modes of transportation, beaches, and workplaces, as well as other public facilities. This era was symbolically marked with “White Only” and “Colored” signs as seen in the image of the segregated bus stop in Rome, Georgia.
The fourth defining moment is the signing of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 in which Jim Crow laws were legally ended. Although President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this life-altering bill in the attempt to create a less polarized country, racism and segregation were still at large. This moment is critical to "The New Jim Crow" as it is assumed by many to have officially ended racism in the United States and led to colourblindness among white Americans.
The fifth defining moment was the instigation of the War on Drugs in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon that largely remains in present-day vernacular. Following Nixon, President Ronald Reagan equally pursued the War on Drugs throughout the 1980s and during both presidents’ terms, federal and municipal police and drug task forces created the prison boom which was extremely racialized. One of the most impactful laws created in 1986 was the mandatory minimum prison sentencing act for specific drug offenses. In criminal cases centered around the quantity of cocaine, the law implemented longer sentences, regardless of the actual amount of cocaine, for those involving crack cocaine. This saw a more significant effect on African Americans as crack cocaine was more prevalent in these communities.
"The New Jim Crow" was originally published in 2010, just after President Barack Obama had been elected for his first term. Much like the signing of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 which made racism seem like a thing of the past, Obama’s succession to the White House was seen as a historic moment that overshadowed the looming discriminatory practices that remained in the United States. The purpose of "The New Jim Crow" was to point out that there has indeed been progress but that there is still a very long way to go to create an equal society in which discriminatory practices are challenged and abolished. As the author, Michelle Alexander explains, after the onset of the War on Drugs the criminalization and mass incarceration of African Americans became far more common and the title of criminal regardless of the crime often has more effects on life after prison. Once convicted, a person’s right to vote, to live in public housing, serve on a jury, and gain employment in certain fields are revoked which parallels that of slavery and Jim Crow as they are relegated to a life as a second-class citizen. "The New Jim Crow" serves as a reminder and warning that American society is still inherently based on white supremacy despite how far the state directly separates from supremacist organizations. The American prison system is the most powerful remaining institution that reinforces the supremacist ideology and directly impacts millions of American lives.