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Mass incarceration can’t it really be compared to Jim Crow south? Michelle Alexander has reasons on believes of mass incarceration and the relationship to the Jim Crow south. Alexander talks about multiple things on how there related like what happened after prison and even about slavery and African Americans. Alexander talks about a person named Jarvis Cotton and his grandparents even there grandparents were not able to vote even after having seven generations of his family live in the united states.
His grandfather was beaten to death for trying to vote and great-grandfather was threatened y a group of people called UK Klux Klan ND his father alone had to take various test to vote.. Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. When you lived back then as a African American you were considered a criminal and were striped of all natural rights.
In today’s society once you’re labeled a felon many rights are taken away or there is a lot of discrimination like, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from Jury service are suddenly legal.. Michelle Alexander says “We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it” The drug war began and mass incarceration starts.
When the drug war started drugs hit the streets and lots of people who were poor or a x felon or even on parole even people who were rich started taken drugs. Cops decided they need to get the drugs off the street because it was killing people and passing around illnesses. Cops felt like the area that is most targeted was the poorer areas. The people who were mainly there was non white and cops arrested a lot of people. Once those people who were arrested and came out of Jail all there rights were striped the weren’t able to vote denied benefits Just like during the Jim crow.
Mass incarceration and the Jim Crow south are very much a like because Just like when the Jim Crow south was around compared to now is that your rights to do natural things so you yourself can live the “American Dream” did not and still dose not exist for a criminal now Just like it did not for a African American during the Jim Crow south . Criminals to this day do not have many rights because criminal justice the decade of drug courts By washman