Materials & Resources
Questions for Discussion:
- What is the biggest difference between the shame and stigma blacks faced during the Jim Crow era because of segregation and the shame and stigma they face today under the prison label?
- When you think of the “face of crime” in New Orleans what image comes to mind? Why?
- Why do blacks and Latinos make up the majority of drug arrests if whites sell and use drugs at the same rate?
- Before reading this book, what was your understanding of the word “racism”? Has it changed at all?
- Recall and discuss three circumstances that contribute to the difficulties encountered by ex-offenders when they look for work and housing. Why does the author categorize this type of post-incarceration experience as an integral part of the system of mass incarceration?
- How do television programs like Law & Order compare to the way criminal court proceedings actually work?
- Review the final section, titled “All of Us or None.” What can we do to ensure that “us” might come to include “all of us?”
Additional Resources and Further Reading:
- Other writings by Michelle Alexander about criminal justice and civil rights
- "Blacks Are Singled Out for Marijuana Arrests, Federal Data Suggests" - New York Times, June 2013
- “Education Reform in the New Jim Crow Era” – Truthout, May 2013
- “The New Face of Jim Crow” – New Orleans Tribune
- Bringing Down the New Jim Crow Radio Documentary Series
- Various speeches by Michelle Alexander
- Interview with Michelle Alexander on Democracy Now: Part 1 and Part 2
- In Misdemeanor Cases, Long Waits for Elusive Trials - New York Times, April 2013
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