The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (Audiobook Excerpt)
Summary
TLDRThe transcript highlights the growth of the American penal system since the 1970s, focusing on its disproportionate impact on African Americans. It traces how criminologists once predicted the decline of prisons, citing their failure to prevent crime and calls for a moratorium on prison construction. However, instead of fading away, mass incarceration expanded to unprecedented levels, particularly targeting Black men. Despite this, civil rights groups have prioritized issues like affirmative action, often neglecting the profound racial injustice within the criminal justice system.
Takeaways
- ⚖️ The American penal system has evolved into a system of social control, disproportionately affecting certain racial groups.
- 📉 Despite declining crime trends, incarceration rates have soared, particularly impacting African-American communities.
- 🔍 Experts in the 1970s predicted that the prison system would soon diminish, citing its failure to deter crime effectively.
- 📚 In 1973, the National Advisory Commission recommended closing juvenile institutions and halting the construction of new adult prisons.
- 🚫 Prisons were seen as creating more crime than preventing it, with the penal system viewed as fundamentally flawed.
- 🔗 Despite expert opinions advocating for a reduction in incarceration, the prison population has skyrocketed since the 1970s.
- 📈 From 350,000 incarcerated individuals in 1972 to over 2 million today, the rate of imprisonment has grown at an unprecedented pace.
- 🚨 One in three young African-American men is projected to serve time in prison if current trends persist.
- 🧑🏾⚖️ The civil rights community has been largely quiet on mass incarceration, focusing more on issues like affirmative action.
- 🏫 Affirmative action debates have overshadowed mass incarceration in national racial justice discussions, even as prisons fill with Black and Brown individuals.
Q & A
What is the main argument presented in the transcript regarding the American penal system?
-The transcript argues that the American penal system is a form of social control that targets people based on race and is unparalleled in world history. It highlights that the system has expanded significantly since the 1970s despite expert opinions predicting its decline.
How did criminologists in the 1970s view the future of the prison system?
-In the 1970s, criminologists believed that the prison system would fade away because it didn't significantly deter crime. They concluded that people with meaningful economic and social opportunities were unlikely to commit crimes and that prison often led to higher rates of recidivism.
What recommendation did the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals make in 1973?
-The National Advisory Commission recommended in 1973 that no new adult prisons should be built, and juvenile institutions should be closed. This recommendation was based on evidence that prisons failed to prevent crime and instead created more crime.
How has the prison population in the U.S. changed since the early 1970s?
-The prison population in the U.S. has grown from fewer than 350,000 people in 1972 to more than two million today. This massive increase was unprecedented and not anticipated by experts at the time.
What does Marc Mauer highlight as remarkable about the moratorium campaign of the 1970s?
-Marc Mauer points out that the moratorium campaign in the 1970s was notable for its context. At the time, the incarceration rate was much lower than it is today, yet activists still viewed it as excessively high. They could not have foreseen the massive prison expansion that would follow.
What is the current impact of mass incarceration on the African-American community?
-Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected African-American men, with one in three young black men expected to serve time in prison if current trends continue. In some cities, more than half of all young black men are under correctional control.
Why is mass incarceration often seen as a criminal justice issue rather than a racial justice issue?
-Mass incarceration tends to be categorized as a criminal justice issue because the focus is often on the legal and institutional aspects of the system. However, the transcript argues that the racial disparities in incarceration make it a racial justice and civil rights crisis as well.
What civil rights issue has dominated the focus of activists instead of mass incarceration?
-Over the past 20 years, civil rights activists have primarily focused on defending affirmative action, particularly in higher education, rather than addressing the growing issue of mass incarceration.
Why might civil rights organizations have focused on affirmative action rather than mass incarceration?
-Civil rights organizations may have focused on affirmative action because it has been seen as a crucial tool for maintaining diversity in elite colleges and universities, which dominated racial justice discourse in the media. This attention diverted resources away from addressing mass incarceration.
What is the public perception of the main racial justice battlefront in the U.S.?
-The general public perceives affirmative action as the primary racial justice issue in the U.S. due to the attention it has received in the media, even though mass incarceration disproportionately affects black and brown communities.
Outlines
⚖️ The Rise of the U.S. Penal System as Social Control
The U.S. penal system has evolved into an unparalleled form of social control, targeting specific racial groups, particularly African Americans. Despite the mid-1970s belief that prisons would soon diminish due to their failure to deter crime or provide meaningful rehabilitation, the system has instead expanded. Experts previously concluded that crime was influenced more by social and economic opportunities than punitive measures, and prison often worsened recidivism. Notably, in 1973, a national commission recommended halting prison construction, citing evidence that incarceration increased crime rather than preventing it.
📉 The Failure of Prisons and the Push for a Moratorium
During the 1970s, prison abolition was a mainstream academic idea, and reformers called for a moratorium on prison construction. Many believed society would benefit from eliminating prisons, which were seen as ineffective. Marc Mauer of the Sentencing Project reflects on the prison moratorium movement, noting that in 1972, the U.S. prison population was under 350,000. Supporters were unaware that incarceration rates would explode, quintupling in just a few decades. Instead of declining, prisons have expanded beyond expectation, becoming a permanent fixture of the American justice system.
🧑🏾⚖️ The Civil Rights Movement's Silence on Mass Incarceration
Despite the dramatic rise in African American incarceration rates, the civil rights community has largely remained silent on this issue. One in three young Black men is expected to be imprisoned in their lifetime if current trends persist. However, civil rights advocates have focused on other concerns, such as affirmative action, rather than the mass incarceration crisis. The national conversation on racial justice has centered on higher education diversity, while the racial disparities in the prison system have worsened, with prisons disproportionately filled with Black and brown men.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Penal system
💡Mass incarceration
💡Race
💡Civil rights
💡Affirmative action
💡Criminologists
💡Prison expansion
💡Reformers
💡Prison moratorium
💡Racial justice
Highlights
The American penal system is a system of social control unparalleled in world history.
The primary targets of the penal system's control can largely be defined by race.
In the mid-1970s, criminologists predicted the prison system would soon fade away.
Experts concluded that prison did not deter crime significantly, and those with economic and social opportunities were unlikely to commit crimes.
A 1973 recommendation from the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals suggested no new institutions for adults should be built.
The Commission found that prisons create crime rather than prevent it.
Advocating for a world without prisons was once a mainstream idea among reformers.
In 1972, fewer than 350,000 people were held in U.S. prisons and jails compared to over 2 million today.
The moratorium campaign in the 1970s aimed to stop prison expansion but was naive in the face of unprecedented growth.
No one at the time could have predicted the fivefold increase in the prison population.
Despite the dramatic rise in African American incarceration, the civil rights community has remained largely quiet on the issue.
One in three young African American men will serve time in prison if current trends continue.
In some cities, more than half of all young adult Black men are under correctional control.
Mass incarceration tends to be framed as a criminal justice issue rather than a racial justice or civil rights crisis.
The civil rights community has focused heavily on defending affirmative action, leaving the issue of mass incarceration under-addressed.
Transcripts
the stark and sobering reality is that
for reasons largely unrelated to actual
crime trends the American penal system
has emerged as a system of social
control unparalleled in world history
and while the size of the system alone
might suggest that it would touch the
lives of most Americans the primary
targets of its control can be defined
largely by race this is an astonishing
development especially given that as
recently as the mid 1970s the most well
respected criminologists were predicting
that the prison system would soon fade
away prison didn't deter crime
significantly many experts concluded
those who had meaningful economic and
social opportunities were unlikely to
commit crimes regardless of the penalty
while those who went to prison were far
more likely to commit crimes again in
the future the growing consensus among
experts was perhaps best reflected by
the National Advisory Commission on
criminal justice standards and goals
which issued a recommendation in 1973
that no new institutions for adults
should be built and existing
institutions for juveniles should be
closed this recommendation was based on
their finding that the prison the
reformatory and the jail have achieved
only a shocking record of failure there
is overwhelming evidence that these
institutions create crime rather than
prevent it these days activists who
advocate a world without prisons are
often dismissed as quacks but only a few
decades ago the notion that our society
would be much better off without prisons
and that the end of prisons was more or
less inevitable not only dominated
mainstream academic discourse in the
field of criminology but also inspired a
national campaign by reformers demanding
a moratorium on prison construction Marc
Mauer the executive director of the
Sentencing Project notes that what is
most remarkable about the moratorium
campaign in red
respect is the context of imprisonment
at the time in 1972 fewer than 350,000
people were being held in prisons and
jails nationwide compared with more than
two million people today the rate of
incarceration in 1972 was at a level so
low that it no longer seems in the realm
of possibility but for moratorium
supporters that magnitude of
imprisonment was egregiously high
supporters of the moratorium effort can
be forgiven for being so naive
Maur suggests since the prison expansion
that was about to take place was
unprecedented in human history no one
imagined that the prison population
would more than quintuple in their
lifetime it seemed far more likely that
prisons would fade away far from fading
away
it appears that prisons are here to stay
and despite the unprecedented levels of
incarceration in the african-american
community the civil rights community is
oddly quiet one in three young
african-american men will serve time in
prison if current trends continue and in
some cities more than half of all young
adult black men are currently under
correctional control in prison or jail
on probation or parole yet mass
incarceration tends to be categorized as
a criminal justice issue as opposed to a
racial justice or civil rights issue or
crisis the attention of civil rights
advocates has been largely devoted to
other issues such as affirmative action
during the past 20 years virtually every
progressive national civil rights
organization in the country has
mobilized and rallied in defense of
affirmative action the struggle to
preserve affirmative action in higher
education and thus maintain diversity
and the nation's most elite colleges and
universities has consumed much of the
attention and resources of the civil
rights community and dominated racial
justice discourse in the mainstream
media leading the general public to
believe that affirmative action is the
main battlefront in u.s. race relations
even as our prisons fill with black and
brown men
you
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