The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a very poignant play. Throughout his book, Alexander makes it a point to draw parallels between the current justice system that implements declarations emanating from the executive branch and the lack of action by the legislative branch to correct the overbroad enforcement that has ultimately leading to a disproportionate number of Black people currently incarcerated. . The book was interesting to say the least. I feel like Alexander did a good job of laying the historical groundwork for the reader and describing that from the earliest times of American history, black people were invited into the country simply as a compromise and because blacks seemed to be the more economical players. choice for the pursuit of their motivations for the development of the country. Alexander didn't just tell the reader that blacks were a better economic solution when the country was founded. Instead, she explained in depth why other racial groups, such as Native Americans and poor Eastern European whites, would not. be just as easy to assert the power of slavery. The slave mentality is a recurring theme throughout this text. I find that Alexander may not even realize that she did it, but the brief explanation at the beginning of why blacks were the most ideal candidates for slavery actually helps the reader explain the exploitation of black people that is illustrated in the rest of the book. Alexander talks about slavery, post-slavery, Jim Crow, lack of economic gain, the war on drugs, labeling, blaxploitation today, successful celebrities (Oprah and Barack Obama) and the silence we saw among people in the past. virulent civil rights activists. I realized... middle of paper... a selfish and dangerous black man in their head. This character who, according to them, encompasses all black people. This very personality that leads white cops to approach black men with force has led to the disproportionate enforcement of the war on drugs, to disproportionate prison sentences, to white women crossing the street when black men s approach and to people who fear black people in general. It would be nice to think that Alexander's proposed active measures to combat the systems currently in place will change the way the world views blackness, but that is entirely too idealistic. As long as the idea of ​​an animal/hyper-masculinized race still exists, is still marketable, through music, media or by its own people through Blaxploitation, society will cling to these ideals, without any activism to civil rights nor any overthrow. laws will change this fact.