The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration and Societal Re-entry

Incarcerating more individuals than any other industrialized nation, the U.S carceral state is actively modelling the anti-Black Jim Crow laws that plagued the South during the late 19th and early 20th century. Particularly, the legal consequences of re-entry is hindering the progression of African Americans, thus creating a caste system. However, how are the legal barriers to societal re-entry creating a caste system known as “The New Jim Crow” that ostracizes Black people to diminished citizenship?

A Brief History Of Jim Crow Laws and Jim Crow Laws provides an unambiguous and comprehensible explanation detailing the Jim Crow laws.

After the “Whites Only” signs came down, another racially charged movement arose. Created by political elites and defined as the War on Drugs is the primitive reason for the disproportionate effects of mass incarceration of Black people. Glasser in “American Drug Laws: the new Jim Crow ”, Alexander in chapter two of her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and the article “The Racial Dimension: Dugs and Mass Incarceration” discusses this in extensive detail.

After leaving the penal system, another set of criminal sanctions are imposed on ex-convicts operating outside the conventional framework. One of them being political disenfranchisement. This is especially evident in the Black population because they are incarcerated at higher rates and therefore disenfranchised at higher rates up to 30%. This exclusion of Black votes from polling booths also demonstrates suppression of their political power because when Black ex-convicts are stripped of their political voice, their politically potency diminishes.

This is analogous to the Jim Crow era because that they are denied the most fundamental right of modern democracy. During this time, Black people were denied the right to vote through felon disenfranchisement laws, poll taxes, and literacy tests that were administered in a racially discriminatory manner which Alexander further discusses in chapter five of her book.

Although this right can be regained, Ewald details what the reinstatement process can be like. My recommendation is that this law be completely removed as it has obvious racist consequences.

Furthermore, employment opportunities are another imposition convicted felons face upon re-entry. This is because of the tainted image of a criminal as a Black individual which decreases their chances of employment. In the study “It’s Hard Out Here If You’re a Black Felon: A Critical Examination of Black Male Re-entry” by Williams et al, Randy, a participant, detailed his personal experience of how his “jacket” was an unnecessary barrier to successful integration. Mapping its parallels to Jim Crow, Black people were not allowed to any trade or employment without licensure from a judge and often times it would not be granted. In addition, many industries did not hire Black people.

My recommendation that could be effective for employment is to implement vocational and educational programs in prisons. Not only are there benefits for the prisoners, but it is also cost-effective reducing recidivism rates.

We need to apply pressure on all elected officials prioritize these issues in the topic of conversation. To get involved, organizations like Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice have the Mass Freedom campaign specifically for bridging mass criminalization of communities of color. Having a plethora of voices can lead to better conversations imperative for effective policy changes.