The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow, death does not necessarily mean the end of racial caste (p.21). In his book “The New Jim Crow,” Alexander describes a series of social practices and discourses that serve to keep African Americans controlled by institutions. In this book his analysis focuses on examining the phenomenon of mass incarceration in recent years. Comparing Jim Crow to mass incarceration, he points out that mass incarceration is a network of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that work together – almost invisibly – to ensure the subordinate status of a racially defined group, African Americans ( p. 178 -190 ).Alexander (2010) describes the New Jim Crow as a time in which society had already internalized stereotypes of African American men as violent and more likely to commit crimes and in which mass incarceration was normalized, especially in poor areas – . That is, today it is considered normal for black parents to miss their homes because they are in controlling institutions (p.181). He also points out that American society denies racism when it assumes the justice system works. Therefore, he argues that “mass incarceration is color blind” (p.183). American society does not see race as distorted within institutions of control. Alexander (2010) suggests mass incarceration as a system of racialized social control that functions in the same way as Jim Crow. Describes how people who were incarcerated......middle of paper......ople (p.195).7) Symbolic production of race. Perhaps this is the most important category of his analyses. He points out that mass incarceration like Jim Crow and slavery define and reinforce what it means to be a person of color. During slavery, being black meant being a slave. During Jim Crow he meant to be a second-class citizen. And mass incarceration defines black people, especially men, as criminals. We can conclude with his analysis that criminal justice in America is biased, although I disagree with the suggestion Alexander has heard from other people that mass incarceration is a “ conspiracy to put blacks in their place ” (p.5). It is clear that the justice system in the United States is not entirely fair and that collective action is needed to fight it. Works Cited Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow. New York, NY: The New Press.