The New Jim Crow Lesson Plan

What is Alexander’s main argument? What kinds of data does she rely on to create her argument?

Alexander argues that “something akin to a racial caste system currently exists in the United States” (2). She states her argument again later in the Introduction, saying “This book argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should fully commit themselves to dismantling this new racial caste system” (11). “Mass incarceration—not attacks on affirmative action or lax civil rights enforcement—is the most damaging manifestation of the backlash against the Civil Rights Movement” (11). She proposes to use legal...