First Reading
For my first reading of The New Jim Crow, I read the introduction and started the book. The introduction gave a very insightful overview of the arguments that Michelle Alexander makes in her book, and also allude to her purpose in writing the book. She gives in-depth analysis of many topics she will discuss further throughout the book, but even in this brief introduction points out the many problems and injustices our country fosters through law and practice.
Her overarching argument throughout the book as can be seen from her introduction is that we have a racial caste system in our country that has adapted and evolved from racial institutions such as Jim Crow Laws and slavery. We are simply in another adaptation of the same systematic racism that has encompassed our country since it's start. Although the lives of many African-Americans have improved since times of slavery, the issues are still there.
As she says in her introduction, "Like an optical illusion-one in which the embedded image is impossible to see until its outline is identified-the new caste system lurks invisibly within the maze of rationalizations we have developed for persistent racial inequality" (pg 12). This shows her major claim of the book, as well as her purpose in writing it. Through this book, she hopes to outline the new caste system so that the readers may see through the illusion that our society continues to put forth as declining racism and an age of colorblindness. However, as she argues, colorblindness does nothing to change the institutionalized racism we uphold through our law and practices. Her purpose is to outline the many injustices our country faces as well as foster an educated conversation with peers about issues of race.
In order to achieve her purpose, she must start from the beginning. She, predictably, goes back to the times of slavery and even before. She starts off by acknowledging major historical events like Bacon's rebellion, establishing how the roots of racism started in our country. She asserts that in the early days of America, the planter elite essentially ruled our country, and everyone else was left to fend for themselves. With this economic disparity, many poor whites and African-Americans decided to band together and rise up against the oppressive system, which is in essence what happened during Bacon's Rebellion. This is what she sees as the start of the movement to label blacks as inferior because the planter elite were fearful of them joining with poor whites to rid them of their economic prosperity.
She points out various historical events that helped shape our idea of race into what it is today. She refers to how Native Americans were dehumanized in a similar manner to African-Americans in order to effectively drive them out of the land that greedy Americans wanted for themselves. They did this with African-Americans too, and as she asserts, "There was no contradiction in the bold claim made by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal" if Africans were not really people" (pg 26). She explores how throughout our history, white Americans deliberately chose to establish blacks as the inferior race to serve their own purposes, such as maintaining their upper-class status, maintaining their workforce that their economy depended on, and ultimately maintaining the wealth and prosperity that condemning blacks to oppression gave them.
She examines our history and how our past has led to the racial ideas that are still present today. She says, "Racial division was a consequence, not a precondition of slavery, but once it was instituted it became detached from its initial function and acquired a social potency all it's own" (pg 26). This section of the book presents the tragic history we have with race in America, but also how it has helped frame our ideas about race in the present day, which is very important to her argument.
Overall, her overview and her exploration of our nation's deplorable history with race frames her argument about the current systems of oppression that exist within America. She addresses topics that affect millions of lives in our country and brings to light the totality of injustices that are present every day within our system. It's one thing to hear about these issues individually, but to see them all represented within one book shows just how big of a problem racism still is in our country, and how we must change it. I feel like this book has given me tremendous insight already to the concept of race in our country. I am interested to see what other arguments she makes and how it will add to my existing and still forming understanding about race.
Her overarching argument throughout the book as can be seen from her introduction is that we have a racial caste system in our country that has adapted and evolved from racial institutions such as Jim Crow Laws and slavery. We are simply in another adaptation of the same systematic racism that has encompassed our country since it's start. Although the lives of many African-Americans have improved since times of slavery, the issues are still there.
As she says in her introduction, "Like an optical illusion-one in which the embedded image is impossible to see until its outline is identified-the new caste system lurks invisibly within the maze of rationalizations we have developed for persistent racial inequality" (pg 12). This shows her major claim of the book, as well as her purpose in writing it. Through this book, she hopes to outline the new caste system so that the readers may see through the illusion that our society continues to put forth as declining racism and an age of colorblindness. However, as she argues, colorblindness does nothing to change the institutionalized racism we uphold through our law and practices. Her purpose is to outline the many injustices our country faces as well as foster an educated conversation with peers about issues of race.
In order to achieve her purpose, she must start from the beginning. She, predictably, goes back to the times of slavery and even before. She starts off by acknowledging major historical events like Bacon's rebellion, establishing how the roots of racism started in our country. She asserts that in the early days of America, the planter elite essentially ruled our country, and everyone else was left to fend for themselves. With this economic disparity, many poor whites and African-Americans decided to band together and rise up against the oppressive system, which is in essence what happened during Bacon's Rebellion. This is what she sees as the start of the movement to label blacks as inferior because the planter elite were fearful of them joining with poor whites to rid them of their economic prosperity.
She points out various historical events that helped shape our idea of race into what it is today. She refers to how Native Americans were dehumanized in a similar manner to African-Americans in order to effectively drive them out of the land that greedy Americans wanted for themselves. They did this with African-Americans too, and as she asserts, "There was no contradiction in the bold claim made by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal" if Africans were not really people" (pg 26). She explores how throughout our history, white Americans deliberately chose to establish blacks as the inferior race to serve their own purposes, such as maintaining their upper-class status, maintaining their workforce that their economy depended on, and ultimately maintaining the wealth and prosperity that condemning blacks to oppression gave them.
She examines our history and how our past has led to the racial ideas that are still present today. She says, "Racial division was a consequence, not a precondition of slavery, but once it was instituted it became detached from its initial function and acquired a social potency all it's own" (pg 26). This section of the book presents the tragic history we have with race in America, but also how it has helped frame our ideas about race in the present day, which is very important to her argument.
Overall, her overview and her exploration of our nation's deplorable history with race frames her argument about the current systems of oppression that exist within America. She addresses topics that affect millions of lives in our country and brings to light the totality of injustices that are present every day within our system. It's one thing to hear about these issues individually, but to see them all represented within one book shows just how big of a problem racism still is in our country, and how we must change it. I feel like this book has given me tremendous insight already to the concept of race in our country. I am interested to see what other arguments she makes and how it will add to my existing and still forming understanding about race.
Bekah,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting to compared the book I have just begun (Race by Marc Aronson) to The New Jim Crow. Reading through your post, there were a few things that struck me as worth mentioning....
The notable difference between the two is that The New Jim Crow deals with solely history in the U.S. (correct me if I'm wrong), while Race traces back much farther, long before the U.S. existed. This can also be seen as a similarity, since both books do look at history. Anyway, that's what I see as the major difference.
But the thing about The New Jim Crow you've informed me of that I find especially interesting- is that the author views race and slavery as two separate topics. I drew this conclusion from the quote you provided from page 26. The author of Race said the same sort of thing at a coincidentally similar point into the read: "Slavery did come to be linked with race, but that was a very recent development." (pg. 23). Plus, he labels this concept as the "key to this whole book"
I'll avoid leaving a super lengthy comment, but just from reading your first post on The New Jim Crow, I can predict the core arguments of our two books are headed in similar directions, just perhaps with varying approaches.