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The New Jim Crow

Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Jul 06, 2020Gareldb rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I got a little concerned when the first 10% of the book kept telling me what it was going to tell me. I was going "Just get on with it already." However, once the author got going, I found this book to be a really eye-opening account of just how the criminal justice system is set up to ensure people of color fail. I was extremely impressed with the the amount and quality of research done. I found it unbelievable how the Supreme Court, over the years, has consistently ruled that the judicial system cannot be challenged, especially by making both the 5th and 14th amendments totally unavailable to Black Americans. The number of arrests and length of jail terms for Black Americans vs. white Americans for drug use, especially when white Americans have been shown to use drugs just as often, was astonishing. Through reading this book, the author made a very convincing case that the War on Crime is really a war on Black Americans. I found it surprising that the Obama administration didn't do more to equalize things. When I consider all of the money spent to keep non-violent drug users off the streets, unemployed, under-housed, and unable to vote when there is such an explosion of violent crimes being committed, I think we all need to rise up and say that things need to change. Like the author, I am not sure how to make things better when the entire justice system is so stacked against them. I just know we need to start somewhere.