A Rhetorical Analysis

 Hello everyone, and welcome back! Over the past week, I've continued to read Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. The latest section has been jam-packed with new information, some of which was difficult to make sense of at first. However, the author did a wonderful job of explaining new concepts, and all of the information proved relevant to her thesis. I'll be getting into how Alexander uses rhetorical choices in order to "persuade" her audience that America's system of mass incarceration is both racist and a form of caste. 

The New Jim Crow is littered with statistics and facts, each one more shocking than the next. These are examples of how Alexander uses logos to support her argument; every point she makes is going to be more believable if she's able to properly back in up with evidence. At the beginning of the latest section, Alexander discusses racial discrimination in The Supreme Court. While laws were implemented as time went on, the previously (and, to an extent, currently) existing racism serves as a perfect example of deep-rooted racism in our government. If, up until recently, black defendants were tried by all-white jurors, then of course there was going to be racial bias; this supports the idea that our current criminal justice system is systemically racist (119). Alexander appeals to our sense of logos by presenting a rational argument. 

She does the same thing when discussing how police are given "discretion regarding whom to target...as well as where to target," which gives them the ability to easily racially profile. The author supports this point by including a study done in Seattle. The study found that the Seattle Police Department focused heavily on crack, a "drug most strongly associated with "blackness"" to the "near exclusion of other drugs" (127).  This likely stems from the general police focus in "'hood" areas. According to a former prosecutor, ""It's a lot easier to go out to the 'hood, so to speak, and pick somebody than to put your resources in an undercover operation in a community where there are potentially politically powerful people."" If the police are only focusing on one racial group, then of course the majority of people imprisoned are going to be in said racial group. 

Finally, I've decided to include one last statistic from the book that I found to be particularly impactful. According to Alexander, in New Jersey, it was proven that "only 15 percent of all drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike were racial minorities, yet 42 percent of all stops and 73 percent of all arrests were of black motorists." What made this statistic even more surprising was the fact that, in New Jersey, "white were almost twice as likely to be found with illegal drugs or contraband as African Americans, and five times as likely to be found with contraband as Latinos." If this pure logic doesn't show blatant racism, then I don't know what does. 

Throughout her book, Alexander also appeals to our sense of pathos. An example of this is when she describes the experience of a law student at the University of Chicago. This student was doing a ride-along with Chicago Police as a part of her course. She describes driving through poor public housing, and how each time they "stopped the car, every young black ma n in the area would almost reflexively place his hands up against the car and spread his legs to be searched" (125). The student says that "it just seemed so normal--for both the police and the young men". This story invokes a sense of sympathy/empathy within the reader, particularly the white reader. On a day to day basis, I don't have to worry about suspicion or violence from the police. It's something I don't even think about, nor is something I should have to think about. The fact that it's so routine for some people is both sad and disappointing.

Alexander once again uses pathos when she describes criminals as being the "one social group in America we have permission to hate"(141).  According to her, they are deemed "a characterless and purposeless people, deserving of our collective scorn and contempt" (141). This makes us feel guilty and causes self-reflection. I remember thinking...."Do I think of criminals that way? Do I get an internal "free pass" when it comes to them?"" In a way, it also appeals to our sense of logos. If there truly is a large degree of racism in our criminal justice system, then mass incarceration truly is a way for us to make racism acceptable in society. 

Overall, I've very much enjoyed reading The New Jim Crow. It's been very insightful, as well as convincing. I think that Michelle Alexander has done a wonderful job of using rhetorical strategies to support her thesis.