Blog Post #4

    

     Hello readers, over the past few days I have continued to read "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander and it has continued to impact me greatly. The last 60 pages have been slightly less fact-filled than the previous pages, however, given the massive amount of facts that were packed in before, it still feels like I am reading a very academic and informative book with more than enough supporting evidence. Despite this section being more explanation-based, Alexander still delivers shocking facts such as, "More African American adults are under correctional control (prison, probation, parole) today than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War even began."(p180 As demonstrated in this in the most recent section, Alexander focuses on some more recent topics and events and how they connect to and often support systemic racism in our country.

    Throughout the whole book, I have been feeling the relevance of what Alexander is writing about to what is happening in our world right now. However, in this section, Alexander has been especially relating her claims and thoughts to our modern-day world. I feel lucky to be reading this book right now because it is giving me an incredible view into the reasoning behind the recent movements for equality and against the racism that has infected our criminal justice system. One of Alexander's most prominent and reoccurring topics in the book is police brutality and racial discrimination in policing. This topic is hugely relevant nowadays as the reality of police brutality is finally being made aware. The past year in our country has brought a massive movement for change as many people were recently awakened to the racial discrimination in our system. With this new awareness, those who have been fighting for equality for years finally received the support they have needed to really incite change. The brutal killing of George Floyd sparked a nationwide movement to end police brutality, systemic racism, and to ultimately achieve true equality in America. In the few weeks following the killing, it is estimated that 15-26 million people participated in protests against police brutality and systemic racism. (Patel) Although Alexander emphasizes that police brutality isn't the only aspect of racism in our legal system, it is a large part of it and if racist policing was no more, it would be very difficult for the other parts of systemic racism to take place or be effective. 

Protesters pictured above during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Boston Massachusetts in May 2020. (Meyer)

    Another important topic Alexander focuses on in this section is the media, specifically, its coverage and portrayal (or lack thereof) of racial issues and racism in America. One specific event she notes is the media coverage of a speech Barack Obama gave on Fathers Day at a predominantly black church while running for his first presidential term. The speech focused on how black fathers should break the stereotype of abandoning families and leaving their children fatherless, and instead be more committed to family. The one thing this speech left out, Alexander notes, is where all of these missing fathers are. As it turns out, many of them have fallen victim to the trap of the criminal justice system and are locked up, completely unable to be there for their families. Alexander goes on to explain that despite this seemingly obvious and clear part of the discussion existing, no media coverage talked about it either. Alexander strongly implies that these media outlets purposely avoided talking about this for political and economic gain. 

    This is extremely relevant to modern discussions about media and media actions. As we all know, the media has been an extremely controversial and polarizing thing in recent years as many believe that most media is following a political agenda. This idea has been enforced by the fact that the last president, Donald Trump, would often respond to negative reports about him or his policies by calling it "fake news" and has had media outlets such as Fox News backing him since the beginning of his candidacy. Similar to the coverage of Obama's speech, the media today is often accused of leaving out or redirecting focus away from obvious issues that don't align with a political agenda. 

    I personally believe that the mistrust in the media today is scary but in some cases has merit. Many sources are extremely reliable and report generally without bias however there are also many news and media sources that are on the extremes of the political spectrum and have tons of bias. I think that when it comes to the media, being educated and aware of the biases of your media source is extremely important because blindly following what you are told can be a slippery slope. 

A model of many American news sources and where they lie on the political spectrum. (AllSides...) 

    The topics discussed in this book are more relevant than ever now. It is scary to think that all of this evidence exists and people still deny the fact that systemic racism in our society. I wonder how it would be possible to get the knowledge this book has given me out to the public. Although the book does exist, something tells me the kinds of people who really need to read it would never even consider picking up a book with a title like this. Do the readers have any ideas on how this knowledge could be projected to the public without receiving an uproar of backlash? Thanks for reading!

Works Cited

AllSides Media Bias Chart. League of Women Voters of Torrance Area, my.lwv.org/california/torrance-area/article/how-reliable-your-news-source-understanding-media-bias-2020. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.

Meyer, Maddy. Black Lives Matter. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, May 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Lives-Matter. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.

Patel, Jugal K., et al. "Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History." New York Times, 3 July 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.