Is Incarceration The New Jim Crow?

Sentencing and incarceration rates for African Americans — especially black men — have been the subject of countless studies. But a new book examines the role of the war on drugs and the way millions of black people have fallen into an inescapable underclass.

Tony Cox talks with Michelle Alexander about her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. She says a racially skewed criminal justice system is to blame.

Alexander is a civil rights litigator, who won a 2005 Soros Justice Fellowship. She holds a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.

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One Response to “Is Incarceration The New Jim Crow?”

1. Anna Sullivant says:

   February 22, 2010 at 7:37 pm

   Dear Tony:

   I really enjoy your show. It is highly informative!Thank you for bringing pertinent news to the forefront of America. I listened to the show 2/22/2010 concerning the plight of African American males who are incarcerated in high numbers then branded for life. I personally know people who have been victims of this massive attack.They are convicted&given lengthy sentences based on their prior records even though they aren’t threats to society. How appalling to find out the true motives behind the Federal, state,&local governments reign on these young men.The manner in which these acts are handled and the effects they bring upon African American men once being released from the penial system are unfair.

   Although, I don’t support illegal acts,I agree with Michelle. There needs to be a public outcry for better justice in America!

   Continued Success,
   Anna Sullivant