The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Paperback)
March 2010 Indie Next List
“In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander tirelessly researches both the legal history of America's Jim Crow past and the current legal policies that contribute to the mass incarceration of black people. The text adds significantly to scholarship that contextualizes rates of incarceration among blacks and critiques of social and economic inequality.”
— Bruce Smith, Colorado State University Bookstore, Fort Collins, CO
Staff Reviews
What an eye-opening book! Alexander has written a powerful book that makes the undeniable connections between race, "race-blind" legislation and criminal enforcement, and the rise in mass incarceration. She argues that post-Jim Crow legislation and enforcement pattern led to a different type of racial caste system. This one is not written in black & white, like Jim Crow, but the effects are just the same - the isolation and oppression of minorities. Powerful, moving argument delivered with honesty. -- Wintaye's Pick
Devastating. . . . Alexander does a fine job of truth-telling, pointing a finger where it rightly should be pointed: at all of us, liberal and conservative, white and black.—ForbesAlexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a much-needed conversation” about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of ourcriminal-justice policies.—NewsweekInvaluable . . . a timely and stunning guide to the labyrinth of propaganda, discrimination, and racist policies masquerading under other names that comprises what we call justice in America.—Daily KosMany critics have cast doubt on the proclamations of racism’s erasure in the Obama era, but few have presented a case as powerful as Alexander’s.—In These TimesCarefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable.—Publishers Weekly[Written] with rare clarity, depth, and candor.—CounterpunchA call to action for everyone concerned with racial justice and an important tool for anyone concerned with understanding and dismantling this oppressive system.—SojournersUndoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.—Birmingham News