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 backup her point. (see p. 1-2)
    Alexander argued that the War on Drugs targeted the African American and Latino communities. The aggressive policing and harsh sentencing led to a significant increase in the incarceration of individuals for nonviolent drug offenses. It’s a way to keep Jim Crow alive without it actually being alive. She emphasizes the racial disparities within the criminal justice system, highlighting how African American and Latino individuals are more likely to be stopped, arrested, and sentenced to longer prisons terms compare to their white counterparts for similar offenses.

2. Why is it that racial disparities in the rates of incarceration “cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes”?

It cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes because every type of race commits the same type of crimes. The difference is that African American and Latino communities are incarcerated for smaller crimes than their white counter parts. People of color can easily end up in jail for selling a pound of a weed, while their white counterparts will be sent to rehab.

3. How do you understand the phrase: “the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history.”?

The American penal system is completely different than anything we have seen around the world.  The incarceration rates are like no other, we have the most incarcerated people in the world. American has a bigger range of criminal laws and the big extent of the law enforcement activities. It’s not a way to enforce law but a way to control the same population they were trying to keep as slaves.