Mass Incarceration, Essay Example

According to Michelle Alexander, the new era of Jim Crow laws constitutes America’s war on drugs, and their mass incarceration of African Americans. The war on drugs has contributed to the overwhelmingly disproportionate number of African Americans in the prison system. According to Alexander, “Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that, in seven states, African Americans constitute 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison.” (Alexander 98) This further propagated by the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) in which reports that 29% of African American males in prison are on drug-related charges”, while “one in three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are currently either on probation, parole, or in prison.” (ACLU 1) The war on drugs first introduced by President Richard Nixon over 40 years ago has cost the US over $1 trillion. It has created staggering racial disparities, despite whites engaging in drug offenses at a rate higher than African Americans. (ACLU)

The war on drugs has intentionally or intentionally destroyed the black family. Cato’s Letter states that “it has become the norm for black children to grow up in single parent homes, their fathers away in prison for long spells and barely knowing them.” (McWhorter 2) The war on drugs has produced little to no impact on the supply of drugs on the streets, or and end solution to the ongoing problem. This topic is of interest because it is an unjust and unsuccessful campaign that not only targets African American and other minorities. However, continually poor communities of color, in which result in the higher rates of arrest of minorities.

References

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow Laws: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press. 2012. Book.

McWhorter, John. “How The War On Drugs Is Destroying Black America.” Cato’s Letter. 2011. Web. 11 October 2014. http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/catosletterv9n1.pdf

Gunja, Faterna. “Position Paper: Race and The War On Drugs.” ACLU. May 2003. Web. 11 October 2014. https://www.aclu.org/files/FilesPDFs/ACF4F34.pdf