Author: Michelle Alexander

 Should look at the majority, not the exceptions to the rules  Downfall of one caste system followed by another: slavery, Jim Crow, and now mass incarceration  Transition from one to the next due to confusion and hysteria

 Nixon declares “war on drugs”  Reagan & the media reinforces stereotypes ◦ labeling black people as “crack babies” and “gangbangers”

 New and harsh drug laws followed: ◦ penalties for crack much more severe than cocaine ◦ authorization of the death penalty ◦ elimination of public benefits for drug offenders ◦ instituted a mandatory five year sentence for possession  Newfound focus on drugs allowed whites to express their hostility without being overtly racist due to the drug crime

 Criminal justice system does not operate fairly for people charged with drug crimes  Drug offenses account for 2/3 of the rise in federal inmate population and more than half of the rise in state prisoners between 1985 and 2000  Approximately 500,000 people are in prison or jail for drug offenses today, which is a 1,100% increase from 1980

 The number of people incarcerated for drug crimes has quadrupled  Between 1980 and 2000, the number of people incarcerated has gone from 300,000 to 2 million

 Approximately 80% of people charged with criminal offenses need a public attorney  Public attorneys are not well compensated and have huge caseloads

 Nearly all criminal cases, especially drug cases, never go to trial due to plea bargaining ◦ afraid of mandatory minimums ◦ prosecutors exploit the system

 Branded as a second class citizen if you are a felon ◦ Stripped of voting rights ◦ Barred from public housing & food stamps ◦ Stuck in low paying jobs  Much higher opportunity to be arrested again, most for nonviolent crimes

 Human Rights Watch documented that in seven states, blacks made up 80 to 90% of drug offenders in prison in 2000  In at least 15 states, blacks are admitted to prison on drug charges at a rate from times greater than that of white men ◦ No more likely to sell or take drugs than white men ◦ Majority of illicit drug users and dealers are white ◦ ¾ of the people imprisoned for drug crimes are black or Hispanic

 Racial bias inherent in the drug war is one of the reasons 1 in 14 black men were incarcerated in 2006 ◦ Compared to 1 in every 106 white men  Easier to target less politically powerful people who do not have the resources to fight back

 Implicit bias allows for harsher punishments to black defendants than white ones for the same crime ◦ True for both jurors and police officers  Prosecutors seek much harsher sentences for black defendants

 Felons are treated as second class citizens ◦ much more likely to be black or Hispanic  48 states and DC do not allow felons to vote ◦ deemed discriminatory and in violation of international law by the UN Human Rights Committee  Punishments push those convicted back into crime in order to survive

 Imprisonment advances crime ◦ Handicapped by a criminal record  Colorblindness cause for us not caring for racial struggles ◦ Their own problems caused by themselves