1. M. Alexander claims that the main explanation of why so many people are sent to jail in the U.S. today is deeply wrong. Explain her argument by referring to the various examples she mentions to back up her point. (see p. 1-2)
Michelle Alexander explained that the reason why a lot of people are in prison today in the U.S. is wrong. She expressed why this problem is actually caused because of racial disparities. In her article, Alexander pointed out how the government made black communities responsible from the War on Drugs. She explained “The timing of the crack crisis helped to fuel conspiracy theories and general speculation in poor black communities that the War on Drugs was part of a genocidal plan by the government to destroy black people in the United States.” p5. She also pointed out how Ronald Regan used the press/media to connect crimes with black people. “The Reagan administration hired staff to publicize the emergence of crack cocaine in 1985 as part of a strategic effort to build public and legislative support for the war.” pg 5
2. Why is it that racial disparities in the rates of incarceration “cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes”?
Because the government made their own plan to target black communities with crime. They made people think that African American citizens were criminals. One quote from the article that shocked me, shows how the government let drugs enter to black communities so they can later arrest them for the use of it. “It bears emphasis that the CIA never admitted (nor has any evidence been revealed to support the claim) that it intentionally sought the destruction of the black community by allowing illegal drugs to be smuggled into the United States.” Even though this is not confirmed, it is just shocking for me to read how the government made up a whole plan to remain black people as an inferior ethnic group.
3. How do you understand the phrase: “the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history.”?
To me, this means that in the United States, the Criminal Justice system is built in a way, so certain groups are always going to be the inferior ones. I believe that our penal system is full of unequal laws that are worth it to benefit the one on top. That reminds me of a class that I had last semester, when I was reading about the “plea bargain,” and how a lot of people are in jail just because they had to plead guilty without having committed any crime. Most of those people come from black communities, and had to plead guilty because they didn’t have the resources to get a good lawyer to defend their cause.
Hello Gabriela. For your response to the final question, I appreciate you mentioning your experience in your other class where you learned that a significant number of people in jail are there due to plea bargains. This absolutely seems to relate to the concepts introduced by our readings for this module as that connects to the idea that the American penal system exists in order to control others. By using plea bargains as a way to convince people to admit to crimes they may not have committed by promising lesser jail time, it continues the cycle of social control as some people may feel they have no option other than to take those deals. I agree with you that the Criminal justice system seems to be built in a way that will continue to treat certain groups as if they are inferior due to unequal following of laws. If you happen to remember the source you used in that previous class, I would love to read it myself!