The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander goes into details and statistics that show segregation is still alive in the U.S. today. Her thoughts are that the powers that be have found a new way of denying rights for the African American community by incarcerating more of them than the white race and in fact more African Americans are under correctional control today than were enslaved in 1850.

The War on Drugs, Ms. Alexander states, is the major problem as it targets poor African Americans who often take plea deals for drug crimes that hold higher penalties than more viscous crimes. After release from prison, they find it difficult to find work and often discriminated against even if an arrest does not lead to conviction.Only the states of Maine and Vermont permit inmates to vote, others deny voting which often continues after release. With debts piling after release from prison for probation fees, court fees, drug testing and treatment and parole monthly fees they find it difficult to keep up with these even if they can find work. Because debts are deducted from payroll, their only way to survive is to take work that is not legitimate and paid in cash - the debts continue to increase. With a conviction, they are also denied public housing, ineligible for food stamps, denied licenses for certain professions. This often results in a revolving door into prisons because they turn to the only place they can find help, drug suppliers. Ms. Alexander feels the inability to vote has also made a drastic impact on elections.

One way the police often catch people carrying drugs is to ask them if they can search their belongings. Even when carrying drugs the request is rarely refused because of fear of the police. They cannot afford an attorney and take a plea deal rather than risking a longer sentence in prison. The War on Drugs has given authorities more ammunition to use against the drug communities and SWAT teams can descend upon a residence with no warning and no warrant encompassing many innocent family members in their roundup.

There is a lot of repetition in the book and although many of the examples Ms. Alexander gave of arrests indicating that African Americans are singled out, rather than show these people were innocent, she states they were actually carrying illegal drugs. But feels white people are not arrested as often and not treated the same when they are arrested and would not consent to a search without a warrant.