THE NEW JIM CROW Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness By Michelle Alexander

WHY I PICKED THIS BOOK. I had read Witnessing Whiteness and White Fragility, but was still confused about how our society continues to perpetuate . As many of us are good intentioned and think we are “color blind” and want to see things change, I wondered how is our society perpetuating the problem? So, I read this book as part of a church study group lead by Nick Rhinehart Swierk. Barb Zenser

In summary, Alexander describes how slavery and the modern idea of race were born in the mid-17th century; how the Civil War and Reconstruction affected the lives of Black slaves and then freed people; how Jim Crow evolved and then gave way to the in the mid-20th century; and, finally, the birth of mass incarceration as a result of the Drug War in the mid-to-late 20th century. She describes how that impacts not only the incarcerated individual, but their families and their communities.

NOT TO WORRY ABOUT REMEMBERING ALL OF THE LEGISLATION, ETC, BUT TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF SYSTEMIC RACISIM

Definitions that might help as you read: Personal Bias Internal Without thinking, a woman grabs her purse more Tightly as a black man passes Interpersonal External Store clerk assumes a young black customer is likely to steal and Prejudice watches him as he walks through the store.

Institutional/ SYSTEMIC A A company favors an applicant with a white sounding Structural Ism n S name over an equally qualified applicant over an equally qualified applicant with an African name racism, , classism

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: We will use some of these in our discussion/conversation.

1. Have you had a new perspective on the words and motives of Code words?

2. In Chapter Three, when discussing implicit bias, Alexander describes how you can still hold negative attitudes and stereotypes about people of color, even though you do not think you do and do not want to (pages 133-134). Did you discover any implicit biases in yourself while reading this book?

3. What is your reaction to how disproportionately the War on Drugs has resulted in the incarceration of people of color with respect to the statistical realities of who really uses drugs (and how much)?

4. Were you aware of the lasting effects of being arrested (but maybe not even charged) with possession of drugs… convicted felon WHEN THEY GET OUT OF PRISON? What surprised you the most?

5. Did your understanding and opinion of affirmative action (pages 303-312) change after reading? Why?

6. After reading this book, do you think the comparison between the original Jim Crow and “mass incarceration” is a good one? Can you think of another analogy for mass incarceration?

7. What is your “big take away” from this book? What information from this book will stay with you? What was the most shocking thing you learned?

Graphics that demonstrate the concepts of Equality, Equity and Justice