"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" is a non-fiction book written by Michelle Alexander and published in 2010. The book argues that the United States' criminal justice system functions as a system of racial control, similar to the Jim Crow laws that were used to discriminate against African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book provides a detailed analysis of the ways in which the criminal justice system disproportionately affects African Americans, particularly through mass incarceration, and how it has perpetuated racial inequality in the United States.
The book has been widely praised for its thorough research, clear writing, and compelling argument. It has been widely read and discussed in academic and industry circles and has been described as a "landmark work" and "a call to action" on the issue of mass incarceration in the United States. It has been translated into several languages, and it has been widely cited in the media, policy circles and academic circles.
Michelle Alexander is an American civil rights lawyer, legal scholar, and social justice advocate. She is a former associate professor of law at Ohio State University and a former director of the Racial Justice Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. She is also a regular commentator on issues related to race, criminal justice and civil rights in the United States.