Research Paper on Racism and Black Powerlessness

Introduction

refers to discrimination of people from different groups based on their lineal descent. It is one the most profound social problems in history that affect millions of people worldwide. Despite world progress and civilization, prejudice, hatred and racism still exist and are deeply embedded in the society in the same old-fashioned values and narrow-mindedness. For many decades, racism has been an ongoing force that continues to impact negatively on the lives of many individuals worldwide. Though present in all civilizations throughout history, the mindset of racism can be traced back to days of slavery where individuals of African origin were believed to be inferior to the white. The enactment of Jim Crow laws in late 19th century after the civil war encouraged open discrimination and segregation African Americans. Since then, ideologies of race and racism have evolved in different ways. The phenomena discussed in Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow, Toni Morrison's The bluest eye and The Black Family In the Age of Mass Incarceration by Ta-Nehisi Coates describe the legacy of racial injustices in America.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Racism and Mass Incarceration

According to Michelle Alexander, the author of the book The New Jim Crow, today's society of colorblindness no longer uses race as a justification for discrimination, social contempt or exclusion. Instead new tactics are being used to achieve racial segregation and discrimination practices (Alexander, 2010). Alexander asserts that the call for disciplinary crackdown on crime by racist white in America was a calculated move aimed at intimidating African Americans. In his book, the author gives a detailed account of the resurgence of a caste-like system in America, one that has facilitated the incarceration of millions of black folks as well as permanent relegation to a second-class status in which they are denied their fundamental constitutional rights. The New Jim Crow illustrates truths that the United States has been reluctant to come into terms with over the recent decades.

The concept of black criminality stereotypes has been widely illustrated in Alexander's New Jim Crow. For instance during the Civil Right struggles of the mid 19th century, riots and public distress that followed the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. intensified racial imagery and increased police brutality. Widespread crime during this period gave credit to the accusations by racist whites that black community were criminals. Up to date such stereotypes continue to generate racially charged atmospheres whose consequences result to violence, shooting of innocent African Americans and wrongful convictions. The bias methods used by police have led to increased arrests of black people compared to their white counterparts.

Declaration of war on drugs by President Nixon in June 1971 saw the birth of an under-caste system in the United States. Since the war mainly targeted the minorities it was later established that it was no longer a war on drugs but racism. Michael Alexander states that whiteness has always been at the root of war on drugs where non-white people in America are highly criminalized. It has been used as tool of oppression against the blacks for continued mass incarceration. Today, there are more African Americans in correctional facilities than any other race in America. There are many cases of family disintegration in the black community as a result of mass victimization and mass incarceration of black fathers. An African American child born today is less likely to be raised by both parents compared to those born in the era of slavery.

At the beginning of the book, the author gives the story of Jarvis Cotton, an African American who has been denied the right to vote. Looking at Cotton's family tree, there is a historical tale of segregation where his ancestors were similarly denied their fundamental constitutional rights. Cotton's grandfather was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan while trying to exercise is voting right. He cannot vote because just like other black men he has been labeled a felon which puts him on parole. Today, many blacks in America have been labeled felons for the rest of their lives. The figures in Chicago alone stand at eighty percent.

The United States has the most extensive percent of incarcerations than any other country with 2.2 million people in jail. Racial disparities in incarceration show that 34% of the 6.8 million in correctional facilities are African Americans. Over the years, the rate of African American incarceration continues to grow at a rate five times more than whites. Over a short period of time since the Supreme court declared Jim Crow laws unconstitutional, there has emerged a new racial under caste in which millions of non-whites are unfairly prosecuted and legally denied their fundamental rights. Generally, Alexander's New Jim Crow, illuminates mass incarceration in the United States by the criminal justice system as a disguise for racialized social control which is strikingly similar to the old Jim Crow laws.

The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration

The facts that underpin the United States criminal justice system as a race-based institution are overwhelming. For decades, the American Criminal Justice has facilitated mass incarcerations which are now being perceived as a policy mistakes. However, such concerns do not reckon with the deep historical roots of the phenomena or the negative impact it has left to the lives of many non-whites especially those who are wrongfully convicted. Mass incarceration of black community has retarded their progress while imposing a gruesome burden on the families of the affected individuals (Coates, 2015).

According to Ta-Nehisi Coates, mass incarceration of African Americans has done a lot of damage to black families. Incarcerations have pushed black community out of the job market; it has denied parents the rights to take care of their families, it has allowed housing discrimination due to criminal background check thus leaving many blacks homeless. Incarceration also increases the chances of chain incarcerations. The black community has been subjected to a matriarchal structure which is entirely different from the rest of the American society.

Focusing on Baltimore and Detroit, Coates traces the historical origin of policies that have made America an under caste system. Ideally, Ta-Nehisi Coates re-excavates the Moynihan report which is almost a half century old and elaborates on its ideas regarding black marginalization. According to Moynihan legislation of civil-rights alone could not produce racial equality. He believed that equality in America can only be achieved if African Americans work toward making a decent living. Up to date the report has widely been misinterpreted. Liberals believe that the report was aimed at advocating policies to remove race-based economic inequalities. On the other hand conservatives understood the report as a means for rationalization of inequalities.

Interpreting Coates article, The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration it can be asserted that the white supremacist legacy of the Jim Crow laws facilitated the state of poverty in many black families. This on the other hand led to elevated levels of criminality which is the cause of disproportionate mass incarceration. Coates maintains that arguable, the behaviors of black people which are not deem fit for the society are justifiable in the context of racism. He further states that such pathological will begin to fade if the system stops discriminating against the black. Until then, cases of mass incarcerations will continue in the coming decades. African American communities have suffered from centuries of deprivation are more valid than most communities living in America.

Having spent lots of years incarcerated many black people become acculturated to the prison life. With this regard they engage in more crimes without fear of prosecution. They have lived that life, they are used to that life and what could possibly be different if the white supremacist in government prefers to put them there. As a result, many families remain disintegrated due to felon labeling of the black folks.

Imprisonment has become a badge for many black. Even after leaving correctional facilities the society perceives Blacks as criminals and thus they are treated as second class citizens and therefore their unusual behavior in reaction to that is shocking at all. Ta-Nehisi Coates reactions in the age of mass incarceration clearly demonstrate that the thought that prison reforms is a done deal is a misleading perception.

Racism and Poverty

Toni Morrison's "The bluest eye", is a novel that focuses on the issue of racism. In the book, the author paints a complicated portrait of racism in the mind of the readers. Toni Morrison subjects her characters to internalized set of values that create a cycle of victimization. She tries to demonstrate how cultural ideals based regarding color of the skin and physical characteristics are trademarks for racial oppression. Along with racism, gender and class bias are highly reflected in Morrison's novel. Whereas, whiteness is associated with superiority, intelligence and virtuousness, blackness is linked to inferiority, dirt and sin.

Focusing on the main character of the book, Pecola Breedlove, the author states that she comes from a poverty stricken background, a status that emotionally weakens her. Poverty strips Breedlove from her sense of human worth and these makes her susceptible to cultural propaganda of the ruling class. According to the book the issue of poverty can be view as an aspect of lack of money, mental fortitude and emotional support. With this regard Pecola's parents are psychologically affected which affects how they raise their child. Morrison establishes that such preconditioned state of mind is as a result of the racial standards of the society. Ideally, the society tends to judge people by their appearance which forms the basis of how they are treated. Poor people are often treated with less respect compared to wealthy individuals.

For decades the black community has been the marginalized class while the whites remain the monopoly class. Class exploitation has been used as a tool of racial discrimination. Virtually, the system created capitalism as a system of division between the rich and the poor. In this system the African Americans have suffered given their social status as the minority, poor and marginal group. In the novel there are numerous incidences which have pushed Pecola towards a marginal existence due to racism. One such encounter is with the fifty-two-year old store keeper who makes Pecola doubt her existence in the society. At school, she is humiliated by her peers who think she is black and ugly. For Geraldine, she is unkempt and poor, a type of class she deeply disgust. She compares Pecola's type to flies who hover and settle anywhere.

In the book, the author uses a passage from an elementary children's school book to illustrate class conflict in the novel (Morrison, 1970). In a simple language the book describe two white children's houses, Jane and Dick. It shows the life of 'ideal' wealthy white family. The second version of the book narrates the same story but without any punctuation. The last version remains the same but completely disorganized as if it has no meaning. The three primer versions are symbolically used to illustrate three kinds of lifestyles, the white world, the middle class Macteer family trying to escape poverty and racism, and the poverty stricken Breedlove's family exploited by the capitalist ruling class..

Progressing through the centuries since the end of slavery racial segregation pla...