The Disappearing African-American Man in Society Social Sciences Essay (Essay Sample)

The Disappearing African American Man: Where Have African American Men Gone?
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Where Have African American Men Gone?
In Chapter 5, Michelle Alexander, the author of the book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of colorblindness attempts to answer some serious questions about the disappearing African American man in today's societies. She starts on a strong note, quoting Barack Obama that "too many fathers are missing." Alexander goes beyond Barack Obama's observations and systematically shows the reader why they are missing and where they are. Her main point is that the US criminal justice system is discriminatory on black men; the police and justice system seeks out and imprisons African American men mainly to use as a scapegoat in minor crimes and misdemeanors (Alexander, 2011). She makes other points regarding poor African American neighborhoods and disparity between African American men and women. She uses statistics and references other works in Economics, Sociology, Law and other fields to make her point. For example, there are 26% more black women than men (representing about 3 million) whereas approximately a million men are locked up.