The Significance Of New Jim Crow Laws In The United States

Slavery ending in the United States in 1865, once slavery ended there was the belief that the end racism and oppression would soon follow. However, almost 150 years later racism and the oppression of people of color is still very present in society. The most prevalent form of racism in the United States is institutional racism. Institutional racism is any kind of system of inequality based on race that can occur in institutions. Once slavery ended slaves did not automatically become integrated in society. In fact they had to constantly fight for equal rights in order to pacify the demands for equality the government created laws such as Jim Crow. The Jim Crow laws were enacted in the late 1890s, these laws made racial segregation legal at state
Even though there are no longer laws that explicitly segregate blacks and whites there is believed to be New Jim Crow laws that are disguised in the form of political institutions. One of the main institutions that is seen as one the new Jim Crow law is the system of mass incarceration. This prison system has become a booming business. States on average spend over 29,000 a year per prisoner (Cole et al.,2013,p.355). States in general spend more money on prisoners than on students. In order to have a functioning society it is understandable that there must be punishment for crimes however, when a society has a ridiculously large number of its citizens incarcerated there is need for concern. Not only is there an incredibly large number of individuals behind bars most of them are racial minorities, specifically African Americans. The question is then, how does the mass incarceration of people of color relate to the old Jim Crow laws. The author Michelle Alexander (2010) bridges the gap in her book The New Jim Crow in which she states that “mass incarceration in the United States had, in fact, emerged as a stunningly comprehensive and well disguised system of racial social control that functions strikingly similar to Jim Crow.”
It is true that these policies affect mainly minority groups however, the goal is not to just gain rights and equality for African Americans but to secure justice and fair treatment of all citizens. We cannot allow the fact that the country has a negative past for us to allow the reality of inequality in the country. We must address the concerns of all people that are fighting for equality and rights regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, immigration status, and another other aspect that makes them different from the status quo. Civil rights movements are movements that are founded on achieving justice and driven on the moral that all people are equal regardless of their differences. These policies have weakened the race relations in the country and have created divisions among communities. However, we can overcome these issues and use them as stepping stones in order to create a better experience for future