The New Jim Crow

By Michelle Alexander

Publisher Description

One of the New York Times’s Best Books of the 21st Century

Named one of the most important nonfiction books of the 21st century by Entertainment Weekly‚ Slate‚ Chronicle of Higher Education‚ Literary Hub, Book Riot‚ and Zora

A tenth-anniversary edition of the iconic bestseller—"one of the most influential books of the past 20 years," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education—with a new preface by the author

"It is in no small part thanks to Alexander's account that civil rights organizations such as Black Lives Matter have focused so much of their energy on the criminal justice system."
—Adam Shatz, London Review of Books

Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander's unforgettable argument that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is "undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S."

Now, ten years after it was first published, The New Press is proud to issue a tenth-anniversary edition with a new preface by Michelle Alexander that discusses the impact the book has had and the state of the criminal justice reform movement today.

Download the free Fable app

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

4259 Reviews

4.5

Karla Rodriguez

Created 2 days ago

Calamity

Created 2 days ago

“Listen, you wanna read this in chunks with comfort items on hand. I was lucky to be able to vent to my book buddy because I was pausing every five minutes to let myself be angry. The book is fantastic, well-written, and informative. The information is *so* important to know. I knew that the legal system of the US was stacked against black people, particularly men, but I didn't realize how much. I didn't realize how much society reinforced that discrimination. The author also suggests some very good changes that could be made to improve the lot of Americans. I'd be very interested to hear additional information about how the Trump administrations are affecting these problems.”

Educational Moving Provocative Evidence-based Bigotry Death Murder Racism Substance abuse Violence

rachel💗

Created 5 days ago

Markus Pao

Created 5 days ago

“Extremely informative read. The New Jim Crow touched on many aspects from the slavery to modern day issues (Obama era). Things I liked/learned from the book. 1. The context of how aristocratic land owning whites created a system that took advantage of poor whites and made them just a rung above black people so they fought each other instead of with each other. This blacks vs. whites mentality has been rinsed and repeated throughout history from the likes of Nixon and Reagan's war on drugs. 2. The statistics of the prison industrial complex and the creation of a new caste system in America. The extent of which the drug war has incarcerated poor and poor blacks for minor crimes and at discriminate levels punishments is shocking and disappointing. The simple cause and effect of being arrested, jailed, and released with a record just for the cycle to repeat is pointless, expensive and damaging to the American ppl and economy. Our current system only implores punishment and despite the system, not because of it, very few can rebound after being placed through it. - fines, probation fees, random searches - removal from government assistance - job and housing/ discrimination All these things just lead to homelessness and crime. Prisons have only been used to enrich those who own them and hide societal problems. While horrible violent crimes deserve punishment why are we treating minor crimes as life sentences? 3. The systematic failure of the application of laws and the judicial system. I was unaware of how awful some of the supreme Court rulings have been in the past history of this country. Given obvious statistics that show that black Americans are being discriminated the supreme Court and lower courts have ruled against racial bias without BLATANT racism. The numbers do not lie there is a structural problem that is being ignored. While individuals may not be outlandishly racist anymore the systems are both archaic and racist in their application. 4. the ending critiques affirmative action in that it has maybe caused more trouble than good. While I'm a proponent of the idea it has truly become a rallying cry for the opposition. Calls of DEI and unworthy minorities along with the a weakening economy for poor/middle class white Americans have turned possible allies into enemies. As a country we need to fight as a bottom vs top society. Unfortunately, we may need to to change messaging to an "all lives matter" rhetoric as it doesn't seem like a majority of America can get behind helping minorities without seeing things as a zero sum game. As things are currently very sad to see we are moving backwards both on racial issues and issues of class. I thought when I was younger that racism was gone and now I don't think I'll see an egalitarian America in my lifetime. I'm 28.”

Zachary Williams

Created 5 days ago

“Yeah, I have so many thoughts and feelings. Part of the reason I started reading this was to try and better understand the prison system in the USA. I have been visiting with an inmate at a maximum security prison for the last couple of years, talking about Jesus and studying together. Through that relationship I have learned a lot and my perspective has changed. Reading this comprehensive look at the racial aspect of mass incarceration was so discouraging. It is really informative, but really upsetting, having had that personal interaction with someone I care about inside of a prison, this makes it feel like there is not much I can do on an individual level. This is definitely worth a read for a comprehensive overview of how prisons work in the United States.”

About Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar. She is a former Ford Foundation Senior Fellow and Soros Justice Fellow, has clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, and has run the ACLU of Northern California's Racial Justice Project. The New Jim Crow is that rare first book that has received rave reviews and won many awards and prizes; it and Alexander have been featured in countless national radio and television media outlets. Alexander is a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary and an opinion columnist for the New York Times. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.