Michelle Christy
Examining the Phrase ‘the New Jim Crow’:
An Examination of the Rhetoric Surrounding America Mass
Incarceration in the United States
I began my research for this anthology by examining the current state of the
prison labor system in the United States. After researching the history, statistics,
implications of the current mass incarceration system, I found an emerging trend of
comparing the current prison labor system with African American racial oppression that
occurred throughout the history of the United States. This was especially prevalent in the
discourse around the privatization of prisons and the rise in the exploitation of inmates’
labor as a source of profit. It was the 13th Amendment that banned slavery with the
exception of convicted prisoners. This meant that prisoners could be an exploited source
of work used to make a profit. I was focusing on the exploitation of prison labor until I
received guidance to narrow by topic to one phrase in particular: ‘the New Jim Crow’.
The original Jim Crow Laws were a series of laws throughout that United States that
allowed for institutional segregation. The term the ‘New Jim Crow’ first appeared in the
late 1990s, but was popularized by Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow: Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Since the publication of this book, the
phrase, ‘the New Jim Crow’ has been a popular term that has been both widely embraced
and contested. Once I had chosen this term to examine, I was truly able to truly research
the American prison labor system in the context of how it is currently structured and how
it is discussed in American Culture.
For my narrowed down research I began by reading Michelle Alexander’s book,
because although she did not pioneer the term, ‘the New Jim Crow’ is often discussed
along with the content of her book. She is also credited with popularizing the term
because of success of her book. From there I attempted to find scholarly articles on the
phrase, but had difficulty finding published journal articles that provided appropriate
critique because it is such a new topic that has risen to prominence in the past four years.
It did however find journal entries commenting on Michelle Alexander’s book that
included sections on how it was an inappropriate term for the current problem that the
United States is experiencing. I then examined the critique and support of the phrase
that had been published in sources like newspapers or by independent law professor.
Next, I attempted to find the cultural uses of the term. For finding uses on the term, I
examined mass media discussion and social justice movements that had both used the
term for a variety of purposes. To find common social justice uses of the term I had to
look specifically at what types of movements had adopted the phrase. I took particular
interest in organization that chose to use ‘the New Jim Crow’ in the title of organizations
or movement objectives. Finally, I attempted to find the implications of the use of the
term the New Jim Crow. I did this by examining the old Jim Crow laws to the current
mass incarceration system.
Current Prison Labor System in America
Coates, Ta-nehisi. "Mapping the New Jim Crow." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
This is a statistical analysis of the era of mass incarceration. This article focuses on the
current American system of incarceration and it breaks the imprisoned population up by
race and discusses unequal racial make up of prisons. This is important information to
place the phrase ‘the New Jim Crow’ in context of historical oppressions in the United
States.
Liske, Jim. "Yep, Slavery Is Still Legal: Column." USA Today. Gannett, 14 Aug. 2014.
This is a new article from USA Today discusses how the prison labor system exploits
prisoners in the United States. This article draws cross decade comparisons between
slavery, Reformation, the Jim Crow Laws, and the current system of prison labor. It
particularly examines the implications of the 13th amendment and how it excludes
prisoners from protection against slavery. This allows for the United States of America
to still have an entrenched slavery system, even in a day and age when slavery is
supposed to be abolished for a century.
Peleaz, Vicky. "The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of
Slavery?" Global Research. Center for Research on Globalization, n.d. Web. 15 Mar.
2015.
This article discusses the benefits of both a mass incarceration system and an immense
prison labor system. There are over 2 million who are currently workers in prison, this is
about 25% of the United States imprisoned population. This is a labor force that can be
easily exploited because they are not provided the same rights as regular workers. This
article also discussed the recent rapid increase in prison labor and relates it to the
privatization of prisons. Finally it discusses how many people benefit economically by
raising prison population numbers. This truly connects the work aspect of the Jim Crow
era laws to current laborer exploitation.
Uses of the Term ‘the New Jim Crow’
"Nation Inside." Campaign to End the New Jim Crow -. Riverside Church, n.d. Web. 01
Apr. 2015.
This is the “Who We Are” page of the Campaign to End the New Jim Crow. This is a
social justice movement that has based their name and mission on trying to end the era of
mass incarceration. This is an example of how social movements as using the phrase.
This is a stand alone organization that also attempts to create a coalition of related
organization to assist their cause. It is also significant to note that many of the
organizations publications and articles will display the phrase prominently on their media
and then explain the use of the publication later.
http://www.uua.org/multiculturalism/ga/287093.shtml
This is a transcript from a speech at the 2013 United Universalist Association conference.
This speech follows a year after Michelle Alexander gave a speech of the topic her new
book: the New Jim Crow. This following speech, which is transcribed, is a call to action
using often citing the New Jim Crow as fighting words.
Fritz, Sara. "The New Jim Crow." Youth Today: 1. Jun 2012. ProQuest. Web. 1 Apr.
2015 .
This scholarly article provides a comparison of the Jim Crow laws to the modern era of
mass incarceration. This article looks particularly at the plight of young African
American males living in urban environments. It criticizes the term ‘the New Jim Crow’
as being used in class specific areas to otherize those mainly affected by mass
incarceration.
Critiques of the Audience and Pathos of the Phrase
Osel, Joseph D. "Radical Critique: Black Out: Michelle Alexander's Operational
Whitewash - The New Jim Crow Reviewed." Radical Critique: Black Out: Michelle
Alexander's Operational Whitewash - The New Jim Crow Reviewed. Radical Critique,
n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
This article provides a critique of Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow. In this
critique Dr. Oslo looks specifically at the operational whitewash to the approach of
African American oppression. He argues that the discussion around the New Jim Crow
fails to acknowledge African American leaders who have been working against racially
oppression for centuries. This in turn touches upon the audience of the new Jim Crow,
that is it meant for a predominately white audience.
Ball, Jared. "WHY SOME LIKE THE NEW JIM CROW SO MUCH by Greg Thomas."
Emancipatory Journalism and Broadcasting. IMixWhatIWant.
In this is a critique of Michelle Alexander’s book, Greg Thomas examines the audience
of the New Jim Crow. Although Michelle Alexander clearly outlines her perceived
audience in the preface of her book, Thomas claims that the combination of white
washing and the writing of her book narrow her audience to exclusively white middle/
upper class individuals.
Schuessler, Jennifer. "Drug Policy as Race Policy: Best Seller Galvanizes the Debate."
The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
This New York Times article examines the debate the surrounded Michelle Alexander’s
book following its release. In this article it criticizes the New Jim Crow approach to
mass incarceration as myopic and galvanizing the white middle class. It mainly does not
provide agency for those specifically effected by mass incarceration. She limits the use
of ‘the New Jim Crow’ to either middle class Americans attempting to be heroic.
Critiques of the Appropriateness of the Phrase
"Excerpt from the Introduction." Newjimcrow. Michelle Alexander, Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
This is an excerpt from the Introduction of the New Jim Crow. Although the term the
‘The New Jim Crow’ has been around since 1980s. It was Michelle Alexander’s book
The New Jim Crow, that popularized the term and sparked the recently dialog using the
term ‘the New Jim Crow’. In this except from the introduction Michelle Alexander
discusses her reluctance initially accept term because of her previous perceptions.
Alexander, Michelle. "Chapter 5: The New Jim Crow." The New Jim Crow: Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: New, 2011. N. pag. Print.
This is a chapter from Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. In this chapter Michelle Alexander, the
individual credited with the rise in popularity of the New Jim Crow acknowledges the
limitations of her analogy between two different systems of racial oppression. She
reiterates the idea that we are living in another system of racial oppression, but that this
system has a very different structure than that of the Jim Crow Era laws.
Forman, James. "Racial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow."
Yale Law School. N.p., 26 Feb. 2012. Web.
This is a critique of the New Jim Crow as a term used as an analogy written by a Yale
Law School Professor. This journal article begins with discussing the history of the term
‘the New Jim Crow’. It especially criticized the analogy especially for it’s overlooking
specific problems in the original Jim Crow. This argues against the term because it
lessens the atrocities of history.
Reed, Aldolph. "On the 'New Jim Crow': An Interview with Adolph Reed." Interview by
Doug Henwood. The North Star. N.p., 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=8096>.
This is a transcribed interview with Adolph Reed, a Political Science Professor at the
University of Pennsylvania. In this interview Reed provides a critique of the term ‘The
New Jim Crow’. He discusses how the phrase places the racism embedded in our society
on an institutional level instead of the our society’s social practice. This particularly
manifests itself in United States employee hiring practices. Typically it is individuals not
institutions that have unconscious racial biases when hiring new employees.
Conclusion:
My main goal when working on my research analog is to distance the phrase ‘The New
Jim Crow’ from the Michelle Alexander’s book. Although she has been a prominent
influence on the discussion of prison labor and the mass incarceration and should not be
excluded from the discussion, I would like to focus more on the phrase then just the
content and discourse surrounding her New York Times best seller. The way I intend to
achieve this is to find scholarly articles that specifically discuss the use of the phrase in a
modern context.
I would also like to find more research that discusses how Americans are taught about the
original Jim Crow laws in school and what the cultural consciousness surrounding the
phrase. I hope that I can achieve this by finding related book chapters on how race is
taught is school. This would also help me to diversify my sources from being so
newspaper article heavy. I believe that this new material will help me to better
understand how different groups and even individuals are able to understand and relate to
the term and expand my understand of the term is applicable.
In my research I found two specific trends on the use of the phrase ‘the New Jim Crow’.
The first trend was the use of term by social justice organization, typically religiously
affiliated, using the phrase to either classify or motivate their organization. I believe that
this may be because of the shock value that the phrase elicits. ‘The New Jim Crow’ when
directed at the appropriate audience creates a strong pathos connected to a call to action.
This may be the reason why social justice movements have embraced the term as a call to
action. The second trend that I found through my research is that academic or semiacademic tend to criticize the use of the term for a variety of reasons. The critiques that I
have found come from a variety of different angles, but the general trend was that both
the first Jim Crow era laws and our current nation’s approach of mass incarceration are
forms of oppression. With that being said, these two problems are very different in their
creation and manifestations and therefore must be solved in different manners. This is
not an example of history repeating itself, but instead a whole new challenge for society
to tackle.
For my anthology I indent to divide my sources up into four distinct categories. The first
category will be all about context, including information that I believe is vital for
understanding American’s prison system, mass incarceration, the old Jim Crow, and the
phrase ‘the New Jim Crow’. The second section that I will examine will be about the use
of the phrase, looking into how society has adopted the term and are using it in day-today life. The third section will cover the critiques of the audience. This section will look
at how different groups relate to the term and how different racial/ S.E.S./ education/
political groups will relate to the phrase differently. My final section will examine the
real application of the term, focusing on whether or not it is acceptable to reuse a historic
term to discuss the current system of mass incarceration. I hope that the aggregate of
these four parts will provide an understanding of the phrase in context of current forms of
exploitation of forced labor and racial oppression in our society.