The Era Of Mass Incarceration Essay - 1961 Words

Introduction and Thesis Statement Throughout recent decades in the United States, and other Western countries, the prison population has dramatically and exponentially risen from approximately 357,292 inmates in 1970 to 2,306,200 in the year 2014. This has been coined as the era of mass incarceration, with the United States becoming the largest prison nation in the world. Within these present statistics, one in seventeen white men, compared one in three black men will go to prison, illustrating the obvious inequality and racialized justice that is embedded throughout U.S. societal, political and legislative spheres. In the mid 1990’s the government, with the help of popular demand, enacted the ‘get tough’ prison ideology in which the â€Å"No Frills Prison Act† was passed (Johnson 1997). The idea behind this movement of a harsher prison environment, with the regulation and/or exclusion of certain amenities and recreational programming, further criminalized prison inmates while continuing to punish them once they were in prison. In present day, there have been many attempts to increase recreational opportunities and programs within prisons, including but not limited to sports, work, rehabilitation programs, educational programs and much more. Many researchers and criminal rights advocates have attempted to increase the awareness of the effectiveness from different types of recreational programs, with many resulting in positive outcomes. Through the combination of personalShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Incarceration During The Era Of Mass Imprisonment2337 Words   |  10 PagesWestern’s, Punishment and Inequality in America, discusses the era of the â€Å"Prison Boom† that occurs from 1970-2003—when incarceration rates climbed almost five times higher than they had been in the twentieth century—while stating the effects and consequences that mass imprisonment created within the United States penal system. By discussing the disparities of incarceration between sex, age, race and education level, and how post-incarceration affects opportunities such as marriage and high-waged employmentRead MoreThe New Jim Crow Law1014 Words   |  5 PagesMass incarceration is known as a net of laws, policies, and rules that equates to the American criminal justice system. This series of principles of our legal system works as an entrance to a lifelong position of lower status, with no hope of advancement. Mass incarceration follows those who are released from prison through exclusion and legalized discrimination, hidden within America. The New Jim Crow is a modernized version of the original Jim Crow Laws. It is a modern racial caste system designedRead More The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander1182 Words   |  5 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and lega l scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book â€Å"The New Jim Crow†, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve toRead MoreResponse Paper to Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness743 Words   |  3 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness was written by Michelle Alexander to expose the truth of racial injustice in the system of mass incarceration through the comparison of the racial control during the Jim Crow Era. She reveals how race plays an important role in the American Justice System. Alexander argues about the racial bias, particularly towards African-Americans, immanent in the war on drugs as a result of their lack of political power a nd how the Supreme CourtRead MoreIs The Mass Incarceration Of Blacks The New Jim Crow?1540 Words   |  7 PagesIs the Mass Incarceration of Blacks the new Jim Crow? American has a legacy of the mistreatment and disenfranchisement of African Americans. The same bad treatment that many think only took place in the past is in fact still intact, it’s just presented in a new way. The mass incarceration of blacks in the Unites States can be attributed to the â€Å"racial hierarchy† that has always existed. The U.S contributes to about 5% of the worlds overall population, and about 25% of the worlds prison populationRead MoreHow Mass Incarceration Has Become The New Form Of Jim Crow And Slavery Essay1422 Words   |  6 Pagesinvoluntary servitude, which was noted in the U.S constitution. To speed things along you have the slavery which transferred to convicted leasing to Jim Crow Era and now Mass Incarceration which all has striped millions of the people, whom are in the lower caste systems, away from their families similar to slavery. This paper focus on how mass incarceration has become the new form of Jim Crow and slavery. The Unit ed Stated population represent 5% of the world population, but we have 25% of the world prisonersRead MoreMass Incarceration In Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow Laws1083 Words   |  5 Pagesargued that today’s mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow. Michelle Alexander, an associate professor of law at Ohio State University, outlines her argument for how she came to see the United States legal system as a system of racialized social control in her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. She argues that mass incarceration is a type of racial caste system similar to Jim Crow, the â€Å"war on drugs† is the greatest contribution to mass incarceration, and much of theRead MoreThe Breakdown Of The New Jim Crow Essay1474 Words   |  6 Pagesbrought to an end and that everything that once was will be again. That seems to be the case when discussing Michelle Alexander s The New Jim Crow, a nonfiction book that argues that Jim Crow has ree merged in the mass incarceration of black people in America. Originally, the name for this era we know as Jim Crow was inspired by a racist character played by Thomas Dartmouth Daddy Rice. During the 1800s, Rice would dress in blackface and perform a song titled Jump Jim Crow. (Bart-Planged) A decadeRead MoreMass Incarceration : The Color Of Justice Essay1352 Words   |  6 PagesMass Incarceration: The Color of Justice (DRAFT) Racial discrimination in the United States has been a radical issue plaguing African Americans from as early as slavery to the more liberal society we see today. Slavery is one of the oldest forms of oppression against African Americans. Slaves were brought in from Africa at increasingly high numbers to do the so-called dirty work or manual labor of their white owners. Many years later, after the abolishment of slavery came the Jim Crow era. In theRead MoreRacial Inequalities And Racial Inequality1228 Words   |  5 Pagesmanifested in American society in ways that underlies a wide range of societal domains such as housing patterns, educational opportunities, healthcare inequality, and incarceration rates. Current events and experiences demonstrate moreover that racial inequality is still adamant in the American culture. Long after slavery, the Jim Crow Era, and the civil rights movement, racial inequality has taken distinctive forms which affect many people within a racially oppres sed group. Racial segregation at large