The New Jim Crow
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The New Jim Crow written by Michelle Alexander, read by Karen Chilton.
Once in a great while a book comes along that radically changes our understanding of a crucial political issue and helps to fuel a social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Lawyer and activist Michelle Alexander offers a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class status, denied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights movement.
Challenging the notion that the election of Barack Obama signalled a new era of colourblindness in the United States, The New Jim Crow reveals how racial discrimination was not ended but merely redesigned. By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of colour, the American criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, relegating millions to a permanent second-class status even as it formally adheres to the principle of colourblindness.
A searing call to action for everyone concerned with social justice, The New Jim Crow is one of the most important books about race in the 21st century.
Customer Reviews
Steeped in biases
The blurb of this book had me fascinated and wanting to learn more about the complexity of systemic racism. And whilst the author did a good job of highlighting some important inequities in modern society, there was an unbearable amount of confirmation bias that undermines the credibility and readability of the whole book. The author’s continual references back to something being an example of racism, when it could just a easily be a result of another legitimate factor, and always to do with Black American racism, not any other race, seems incredibly narrow focused.
The author manages to highlight how socio-economic status, greed, and flaws in US criminal justice system all result in negative outcomes, yet always tells it from the lens of conscious attack against black people.
The simple fact is that all across the world, these factors have the exact same negative impacts, and have little to do with skin colour. This isn’t to suggest there is not a race problem in the US; I bought the book because I agree there is one and wanted to know more about it. However, I find it hard to trust much of what the author says when there’s such clear biases at play.
Would be much more highly rated if the author discussed all the same topics, but more objectively.