Racism in Disguise

The work I will be showcasing is research on the similarities of direct and apparent racism during the Jim Crow Era and recognizing its correlation to twenty-first century institutional racism, which New York Times best-seller author Michelle Alexander called the New Jim Crow. It will focus on the relationship between poor education in predominantly African American public schools and the high mass incarceration rate among African American males. I recognize the progress African Americans have made since the end of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement; however, I reveal the new methods white supremacy has created through policies, laws, and lack of funding for institutions to maintain their power and keep the African American race oppressed. These new methods are social barriers and “traps” within the African American community that are hard to identify and avoid if unconscious and ignorant. Since slavery, white supremacists understood the power of education and individuals knowing who they are, which is why it was illegal for slaves to know how to read and write. This mindset is still prevalent today. Onw who ia uneducated and ignorant to one’s identity can be vulnerable and manipulated to institutional racism. My analysis to support this argument includes statistical evidence, personal experiences, and references from human rights activists such as Malcolm X, W. E. B. Dubois, and Michelle Alexander to affirm that the condition of most African Americans in the New Jim Crow era is parallel to their condition during the original Jim Crow Era