The New Jim Crow (Essay Sample)

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The New Jim Crow
It is no secret that African Americans in the United States have been entitled to enjoy their civil rights for some time so far. All the same, the problem of limited liberty for this group of people has lingered on for years. Unquestionably, blacks constitute a greater proportion of prison inmates compared to any other race existent in America. In fact, their risk of imprisonment is very high compared to that of whites, black males in particular are the victims of this undesirable trend.
The idea of Jim Crow refers to sets of laws and regulations put in place during the 19th century that promoted racial segregation and discrimination by insinuating that black people formed a second class race. The concept propagates the belief that blacks can only be subjects or rather subordinates of the whites. As such, separate public spaces were allocated to whites and blacks as well in terms of placement in general public areas like theaters and restaurants, transport systems, schooling and even employment (Alexander, 7).
In a few words, the term ‘Jim Crow’ came about during early 19th century as a consequence of Thomas Rice’s (an entertainer) performance wherein he smeared his body with black matter (probably charcoal) and dressed in tattered clothing as he performed a jig titled "Jump Jim Crow" in 1830. This analogy of performance can be viewed as a form of depicting the socio-economic predicament that faced the black people at the time, with special consideration of the impact of slavery, poverty, lack of education and civil rights as well (Alexander, 16).
To better explain this scenario, it is important to contemplate on the punitive stance of the United States justice system in relation to tendency of black people to engage in criminal activities because of the unfortunate situations facing them in general. As mentioned earlier, America has witnessed unending instances of mass incarceration of blacks over time. Additionally, this paper recognizes in this sense that the situation promote by Jim Crows laws is finding its way back to the settings of the modern society, giving rise to the ideology of "The New Jim Crow" (Forman, 102).
The fact that different rules governing social behavior seem to apply for the blacks is more than enough ground to argue for "The New Jim Crow" concept. Without a doubt, the American Justice System seems to promote the idea of white supremacy. In particular, black males are always a target for harassment and oppression by U.S. law enforcers. Back in the day, white politicians apparently abused black people to win the favor of the white electorate, laws were created to limit and or control the gathering of blacks (Alexander, 2).
One of the most notable legal standing in regards to this subject matter was established in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), wherein the court ruled that public facilities should be physically separate for whites and blacks contemporaneously, even though they should be equal. With such an apparent jurisdictional appraisal for segregation, life, in all aspects, became increasingly difficult for the blacks. They could hardly secure any chances for equal opportunities for both personal and communal development as whites for close to a century. They became victims of malicious treatment, even in the nation-state’s military.
The current situation of the United States justice department is characterized by discrimination of blacks, who form the largest proportion of people suspected of engaging in criminal activities. Author Michelle alexander (11) believes that discrimination of blacks in relation to crime is even more prevailing than it was in the 1850s. In fact, many practices from the days of slavery in the United States are still being carried out today, the only difference is that they are branded differently. This is done expressly with the use of words like criminals and or felons, then again the truth of the matter is that a certain group of people (blacks) is being segregated or rather enslaved (Alexander, 17). A special point of interest concerns the denial of voting rights for the so called criminals or felons by the government.
In the modern setting, blacks have been targeted in the name of fighting the "War on Drugs" among other seemingly justifiable mechanisms. In this regard, this paper discusses a few cases. To begin with it offers a reflection of the case of the killing of one Michael Brown. The victim was a young black male who was executed point blank by a white police officer Darren Wilson despite being unarmed. This case per se, represents the situation of a racially predisposed criminal justice system. According to government sources, which contradicts with accounts of eye witnesses, the officer shot the young and unarmed black man because he tried to grab his weapon. He shot him again another time (killing him) since the wounded young man supposedly opted to attack the officer aggressively (Isquith, 1). This case hence demonstrates just how much the justice system stands in favor of violent action by the police, at the expense of loss of human life.
Without a doubt, the war against organized crime and drugs within the poor black neighborhoods of the United States started way before trade and use of crack cocaine became a major issue. This scenario resulted in heightened incarceration of young black males in heightened and startling levels. In fact, this war was emphasized at a time when illegal drug use and trade was reducing. The resultant effect was a staggering increase in overall United States’ penal population- blacks being the most victimized, obviously (Alexander, 4). As such The New Jim Crow scenario has been responsible for the establishment of a serious and weighty social crisis all over the United States.
It is also conclusive that the situation described above directly correlates to low income, poor education and unemployment among African Americans (Smiley & West, 28). One can correctly argue that The New Jim Crow is a product of punitive policies of the country’s criminal justice system in its quest to victimize blacks as convicted outcasts, who are an imminent threat to public safety when the truth of the matter seems to lie in the fact that whites are indeed reluctant to see black people gain status and or fair standing as equal members of the society.
One cannot decline to note that the arguments placed forward by Alexander Michelle in regards to the New Jim Crow are all-inclusive besides being highly persuasive. To add to this, this paper also draws from historical perspective of the subject matter based on the case of the murder of Trevon Martin by police in Florida. This case resulted in serious national outrage, it unquestionably exposed the plight of African American men in terms of employment, education and general perception in regards to criminal activity. It remains an unblemished fact that racism still ails the modern-day society. All the same, a keen analysis of the events of this case indicate that this problem gets intense in general settings where law enforcement personnel interact with members of the black community. Towards the end of the 19th century, racial violence reached an all-time peak of orchestrated political oppression and hatred towards the black community.
It nevertheless remains clear and coherent that racial segregation and discrimination and so "The New Jim Crow" regulations serve the purpose of reinforcing racial boundaries among members of the modern community. They are responsible for lack of realization of a common community in which people of all races coexist in harmony, respect and peace. Without doubt, it is high time for the United States justice department to stop regarding black males as potential violent offenders or suspects of organized drug-related crimes. This will certainly involve developing criminal policy reforms to counter the existent punitive approaches directed towards African Americans (Forman, 106).
On the other hand, it is important to indicate that the American justice system has portrayed nothing short of carelessness and nonchalance in ostracizing real criminal or violent offenders since the central focus has remained victimization of blacks. The full impact of this situation is felt by the minority group on account of the fact that many end up with criminal records to their names and are hence shut off from the civil society. It becomes harder for them to secure jobs and even a social standing. The norm for them remains "do the crime, do the time”.
Fixity and finality for the entire black minority community remains an unyielding toll of fault-finding restrictions in addition to an already disadvantaged background. In this regard, this paper looks at the case of the killing of Oscar Grant. Truth be told, this example outlines a situation that could no better elaborate just how challenging it is for a black person to create and realize a better life for self and family. It represents just how uncouth it is to belong to a stigmatized group of second-class people within a society. It shows how much unwarranted, as a stigma, it can be for any human being to be perceived as a threat to a society they are supposed to belong t...