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)

-In her book, Michelle Alexander discusses the United States criminal law system and how it has led to the mass incarceration of individuals, especially people of color. According to Alexander, why so many people are imprisoned is wrong and has nothing to do with the type of crimes they commit. She states that arrests were made on a racial basis. At the same time, campaigns started by the justice system in the United States, such as the War on Drugs, were aimed at reducing and eradicating other races from the country (Alexander, 2010). Studies have shown that the US has the largest prison population in the world, with more than 2 million individuals.

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

-The rate of drug crimes in the United States cannot explain the racial disparities encountered in rising incarceration rates. It can be attributed to the use of drugs and by a particular race, such as black Americans, who are leading the charts in drug crimes. Therefore, due to the unevenness in drug use and trafficking, there seems to have unequal distribution of drug-related convicts from different races.

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

-The current American justice system has been identified as a social control system since it controls the evils and crimes of modernity. The US penal system has emerged as one of the most rigid systems in the world due to its strict laws and policies. It has helped it acquire recognition as a modern system that controls social crimes compared to historical justice systems.

1 – Michelle Alexander explains that the main explanation of why so many people are sent to jail in the U.S. today which is the drug war against drug crime in the black poor neighborhood, is deeply wrong. A) She stated that President Ronald Reagan officially announced the current drug war in 1982, before crack became an issue in the media or a crisis in poor black neighborhoods. B) Per M. Alexander war on Drugs was part of a genocidal plan by the government to destroy black people in the United States. C) Also she argues that drug convictions accounting for the majority of the increase, especially among people of color, while studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates, however when entering our nation’s prisons and jails, they are overflowing with black and brown drug offenders. D) According to her text sociologists have frequently observed that governments use punishment primarily as a tool of social control, and thus the extent or severity of punishment is often unrelated to actual crime patterns.

2- Racial disparities in the rates of incarceration cannot be explained by drug crimes because studies have shown that people of all color use and sell illegal drugs at the similar rates. However, in the prisons and jails there were mostly black and brown drug offenders. In some states, black men have been admitted to prison on drug charges at rates twenty to fifty times greater than those of white men. In major cities wracked by the drug war, 80 percent of young African American men now have criminal records and are subject to legalized discrimination for the rest of their lives.

3- The phrase: “The American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history” means to me that the penal system in the US has become a system of racial control in term of labeling black men with crimes and incarcerated them. These people are locked up for a long period of time that surpassed most of other countries in the world. When they get out of jails, they lose most of their rights and are discriminated. This is the penal system used to control black people.

1. Michelle 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)

Michelle Alexander believes that the amount of people sent to jail in the U.S is deeply wrong. The reason she feels this way is because she believes this was all a plan by the government used to get rid poor black communities with the use of “War of drugs” campaign. She states,”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”. Michelle also mentions that since War of drugs was used the population of black people in jail has increased significantly.”The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid”. I agree with Michelle because the use of this campaign is more like of a trap or excuse to put people in jail when in reality its more of a set up. The reason I say its a set up is because she says, ” From the outset, stories circulated on the street that crack and other drugs were being brought into black neighborhoods by the CIA.” Although the CIA never actually admitted to purposely do it to target this group of people Michelle Alexander has great reasons for believing that and I agree with her.

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

The reason that racial disparities in the rates of incarceration “cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes” is because people of color are the ones who get target the most and have to do more time over something that every race or group of people does too. For example the text says, ” In Washington , D.C., our nations capital it is estimated that three out of of four young black men can expect to serve time in prison. Similar rates of incarceration can be found in black communities across America.” Many times it’s for unfair reasons or things that aren’t suppose to be punished that bad. Another statement made in the text was “These stark racial disparities cannot be explained by rates of drug crime.” It also mentions how studies have shown that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates. Therefore a specific group shouldnt be paying more for a crime when its done by different races as well.

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 has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history” What I belive that this phrase means is that once commiting a crime and being punished for it restricts you from doing many other things later on in your social life. An example from the article is ” And in major cities wracked by the drug war , as many as 80 percent of young African American men now have criminal records and are thus subject to legalized discrimination for the rest of their lives. These young men are part of a growing undercaste permanently locked up and locked out of mainstream society.”

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)

To back up M. Alexander’s point, she states “Almost overnight, the media was saturated with images of black “crack whores,” “crack dealers,” and “crack babies”—images that seemed to confirm the worst negative racial stereotypes about impoverished inner-city residents.” (Alexander 5). This indicates how the colored people were being stereotyped as crack whores, crack dealers and etc. This brings back the idea that M. Alexander was trying to explain when she said that is the reason why many people are being sent to jail in the U.S. today. Also, she stated it is wrong to reason they are going to jail because of how stereotyped they are being labeled. I strongly agree with M. Alexander because someone who is of colored skin can be making the same wrongdoing, and they will not be punished as the colored skin will be punished.

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

 The racial disparities in the rates of incarceration “cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes” because of the reason that studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates. The reading states “ If there are significant differences in the surveys to be found, they frequently suggest that whites, particularly white youth, are more likely to engage in drug crime than people of color.” (pg. 7). This explains why racial disparities in the rates of incarceration can not be explained by rates of drug crimes. 

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

I understand the phrase “the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history.” The author is explaining how the American penal system is extremely different from other countries in the world. For example, the author believes that in America, the system is built to hold the people who were wronged for life. To elaborate, the people who do drug crimes and etc, are going to be prohibited from certain opportunities that they can be part of in America. The American penal system does its best to punish the people who do wrong.

1.) Throughout the text, Michelle Alexander continuously seemed to talk about an issue that plagued The United States quite harshly at a certain point, this was the battle with crack cocaine or illegal drugs on the whole. Considering her viewpoint on the matter, she claimed that this issue with crack cocaine was primarily affecting populations with people of color. Although the “War on Drugs” was created in an effort to combat the growing use of the drug, it was also an attempt to lessen the amount of people being incarcerated because of drug-related charges. Thus, mass incarceration became an issue as well within the country. Michelle Alexander claims that the main reason for many people going to jail in the U.S. is deeply wrong, she says this because the vast majority of people who are incarcerated are of color. For example, according to the passage it states “The racial dimension of mass incarceration is its most striking feature. No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.” This quote from the text is not only a prime example as to why The United States has a mass incarceration issue but considering that it is the only country that has the most imprisonments for people of racial or ethnic minorities compared to whites. Not to mention, the issue revolving drugs is what aids in the problem of certain people of different backgrounds to be highlighted more than others. Someone would be more likely to think of a Black individual distributing drugs than a White one.

2.) Considering racial disparities in the rates of incarceration, it “cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes” because despite the fact that mass incarceration in the United States is primarily composed of people of racial or ethnic backgrounds, it is simply not true. For example, according to the text it states, “These stark racial disparities cannot be explained by rates of drug crime. Studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates.” This quote from the text not only shares that it is not only one type of people that use and sell illegal drugs but all compare to be similar statistically speaking. So, even though one set of people go to jail more than others and it would seem like they commit more drug crimes; it does not depict the full picture.

3.) When you think of the phrase “the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history,” I believe that it is trying to talk about the country’s legal system. The United State’s legal system is used to enforce the law and ensure that it’s citizen’s understand “right” from “wrong,” while ensuring their safety. Citizens make up a society and the law is considered to be a system, so it is there to ensure law and order amongst them. Being that it is “unparalleled in world history,” I would just say that this means it is quite advanced and heavily placed in this country compared to others.

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)

M.Alexanders claim was that a majority of poor people as well as minorities go to jail for small offenses, especially during times where the races were separated. But even still going on now. For example, she talks about how during the civil rights campaign in the 60’s a lot of people went to jail for crimes that if committed by someone of a different complexion, wouldn’t be considered a crime, or would not be a long sentence. For example, Martin Luther King is mentioned specifically because of his fight and leadership in the civil rights movement.

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

M.Alexanders argues that racism is evident in these incarcerations because everyone of all colors sells and uses illegal drugs, so it isn’t fair to just target minorities and not everyone.

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

I understand this quote as telling me that the american penal system is ruled by people even bigger than just the judge, that there is a larger power out there. Some people can do illegal things(especially people in power) and get away with it and some cant, just because it is rigged from the beginning…

1. In her book, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander claims that the common explanation for mass incarceration in the United States is deeply misguided, if not a malicious lie. To support this claim, she lists numerous historical truths surrounding the War on Drugs. One of the most interesting of these is the fact that the War was not, as is commonly held, started to fight the sale and usage of crack cocaine. While crack was a factor starting in 1985, President Reagan declared his war in 1982. In 1985, he hired staff to publicize crack’s rise as a way to build support for his efforts. Additionally, the CIA admitted to supporting foreign guerrilla armies (in order to fight an undercover war) that were smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S. The CIA also did not allow law enforcement to investigate drug networks that were financially supporting their war. While these facts do not necessarily denote a coordinated effort to imprison higher rates of minority drug users, it is certainly suspicious that inner-city communities began having a drug crisis after the beginning of the War on Drugs. The start of the war saw a hike in arrests for drug offenses, most notably among racial minorities.
2. There is a statistical gap in incarceration rates between minority offenders and white offenders, with the rate of imprisoned minorities being significantly higher, particularly black men. Many believe that this gap can be explained by the disproportionate rate of drug users in inner-city, minority communities. While it is true that significantly more racial minorities are in prison for drug related crimes, the numbers show that people of all races use and sell drugs at very similar rates. Additionally, these surveys convey that white people are more likely to use illegal drugs.
3. For a government, punishment is often a form of social control. Punishment is used to send a message about a governments attitude on certain crimes, groups, etc. To illustrate the severity of the American penal system’s flaws and proposed biases, Alexander compares U.S. incarceration rates between 1960 and 1990 to those of Germany and Finland. While the rates of crime remained relatively the same across the Western world, U.S. incarceration raised significantly, while Finland’s fell and Germany’s remained the same. These statistics provide a clear view of the unparalleled social control asserted by America’s penal system.

Michelle Alexander raises a number of important and interesting points. Let’s start a discussion centered on the following questions: 
 
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) 

The most known explanation for mass incarceration in the United States is due to the country reacting to the uncontrollable crack-cocaine crisis that had swept through inner city neighborhoods in the 1980’s and 1990’s. However, Michelle Alexander argues that this is false information. According to her book “The New Jim Crow,” Alexander states that “while it is true that the publicity surrounding crack cocaine led to the dramatic increase in funding for the drug war (as well as to sentencing policies that greatly exacerbated racial disparities in incarceration rates) there is no truth to the notion that the War on Drugs was launched in response to crack cocaine” (Alexander 5). She explains that even though the media and the government had revealed crack cocaine to be a widespread epidemic in the black community, it simply wasn’t the case. In fact, in 1982, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed that crack cocaine had been a problem in both the media and in poor black communities’ years before it emerged in the United States. 

According to Alexander, almost immediately after the War on Drugs was declared by President Reagan, “the media was saturated with images of black “crack whores,” “crack dealers,” and “crack babies” images that seemed to confirm the worst negative racial stereotypes about impoverished inner-city residents” (Alexander 5). What I understand from Alexander’s quote is that due to the public exposure of the so-called “crack related issues” in black America, people of color were more likely to face discrimination within the judicial system. Therefore, they would subsequently face arrests and incarceration, as well as experience harsh sentences and a record that follows them for the duration of their life. These stereotypes perpetuated by the government and the media are the main reasons why there is a mass incarceration problem in America. I believe that the government used America’s racist past to their advantage when announcing this War on Drugs. Government officials and their constituents saw the images on their screens depicted by the media and immediately placed blame on the black community for a crisis that hadn’t even emerged yet.  

The true reason behind the War on Drugs and mass incarceration, according to Alexander, is that it’s the “genocidal plan by the government to destroy the black community in the United States” (Alexander 5). Some people concluded that the CIA physically planted crack or other drugs in poor black neighborhoods to ruin and harm the lives of poor black people. People initially thought these theories were far-fetched. That was until the civil rights group called “the Urban League” started to believe the allegations of black genocide. Alexander quotes a statement from a 1990 report saying “There is at least one concept that must be recognized if one is to see the pervasive and insidious nature of the drug problem for the African American community. Though difficult to accept, that is the concept of genocide” (Alexander 6). This explanation clarifies to the reader that the primary issue facing poor black people is the government deliberately attempting to do them harm. Eventually the CIA admitted to allowing drugs in from Nicaragua that made its way to inner-city black neighborhoods.  

The growth of the prison population is due to this War on Drugs that was previously declared by President Nixon in the 1970s. It has gradually grown under every president ever since. This “war” specifically targets nonviolent drug offenders of color and has led to the United States being number one in incarcerations in the entire world. This then makes clear as to why America has a crime rate that’s lower than most countries across the globe but has an incarceration rate that surpasses everyone else. It’s not the crime that makes us stand out, but how we choose to respond to people who are categorized as criminals.  

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

Statistically, incarceration rates for black Americans in the United States cannot be justified with the rise in drug related crimes. This is because “studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates” (Alexander 6). According to Alexander’s book, young white people are more likely to take part in illegal drug crime than people of color. However, nobody would guess this while observing the United States prison system. Alexander describes it as “overflowing with black and brown drug offenders” (Alexander 6). In some places in America as many as 80% of young black men with drug charges must live with these offenses on their record for the rest of their lives, and in turn are ostracized from society.  

Drug crimes were declining, not rising, when the Drug War was declared. I would imagine, because of that piece of evidence, people would have questions as to why Reagan would declare a War on Drugs when drug crime was dwindling. I think it has a lot less to do with keeping drug abuse and addiction at bay and more about racial politics. President Reagan had sought out to get tough on people who in the media were labeled as criminals, the black and brown community. He made several campaigns promises to do so, and therefore enacted the War on Drugs. Alexander discloses that “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” (Alexander 6). This announcement not only helped fund law enforcement but turned this government policy into an actual war on people of color.  

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

What I presume Michelle Alexander means by this statement is that mass incarceration is a system that is meant to have power over you and follow you for the rest of your life. It is a procedure in which people are shoved into prisons, identified as criminals and drug offenders, and you remain there for an extended period of time, more than most countries allow their prisoners to remain in jail. Later they are released, permanently thought of as inferior and deprived of their rights as citizens such as the right to vote, the right to not be legally discriminated against in your place of work, the right to housing, and the right to have access to all public benefits. It’s a system that is created to have control over others and dominates everything they do in their daily lives, even after serving time for their crimes.  

Although many people seek work years after a conviction they still suffer while searching for employment. People must continuously check the box in an application that indicates if they have been convicted of a felony. I know from my years in property management that it is also permissible to discriminate against those searching for a home who have drug charges against them. If someone falls into that category, they may be denied access to public housing due to management companies frequently asking for references. It is also lawful for private landlords to refuse people due to their criminal record. Facing these difficulties may render someone homeless.  

According to Alexander “one in three young African American men will serve time in prison if current trends continue, and in some cities more than half of all young adult black men are currently under correctional control—in prison or jail, on probation or parole” (Alexander 8). This is an unfortunate statistic, especially since, from the information I’ve gathered, it looks as though the prison system is designed to send people directly back to jail. This is because it is extremely difficult to make a life outside of prison once released, caused by the many obstacles you face while being a former inmate. Add the additional ossicle of being a person of color who has experienced prison time and it’s almost impossible to survive.