Statistics and graphs based on the book by Michelle Alexander. An introduction to the "Prison Industrial Complex". Include Q & A slides (see "Iceberg" metaphor) intended to facilitate frank discussions about race among students.

1. “A human rights nightmare is
occurring on our watch.”
Michelle Alexander
The New Jim Crow

4. 1) Tell a humorous or unusual
story about a family member.

5. 2) Describe your neighborhood,
including your favorite places.

6. 3) What advantages do you think
you have living in your
neighborhood?

7. 4) What advantages do you think
a student would have living in
an urban environment?

8. 5) What advantages do you think
a student would have living in
an suburban environment?

9. 6) How would you describe your
own racial identity and the
advantages or disadvantages
that come with it? Be precise.

11. Our current context

12. How is racial inequality evident
today? Why does it continue?
A Sociological Approach

13. Efforts of the Powerful

14. Prevailing Institutions

15. Culture:
the Acceptance of Inequality

16. Socialization:
the Acceptance of Place

17. Society’s Instruments of Force

18. The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration
in the Age of Colorblindness

20. Michelle Alexander at Northwestern University

22. Prisoners per 100,000 citizens
762
531
323
153
119
63
USA
Cuba
Ukraine
England
China
58
Japan
Syria

24. 1970 - 2000

25. The War on Drugs
October, 1982

38. Who’s the target?
What’s the “low-hanging fruit”?

39. 45% of non-whites are frisked when pulled over
compared to only 29% of whites, even though whites
are 70% more likely to carry a weapon. (NY Times)

40. Whites are 2.5 times less likely to have their car
searched when pulled over than non-whites. (IDOT)

41. Who’s Behind Bars?
White men, ages 18 or older

42. Who’s Behind Bars?
White men, ages 18 or older
1 in 106

43. Who’s Behind Bars?
African-American men, ages 18 or older

44. Who’s Behind Bars?
African-American men, ages 18 or older
1 in 15

45. Who’s Behind Bars?
African-American men, ages 20 to 34

46. Who’s Behind Bars?
African-American men, ages 20 to 34
1 in 9

47. What’s the ultimate punishment?

48. Race of Defendants Executed
2%
7%
35%
56%
Black
White
Latino
Other

49. Race of Victim in Actual Murder
Cases
8%
12%
50%
30%
Black
White
Latino
Other

50. Race of Victim in Death Penalty
Cases
6%
3%
15%
Black
White
Latino
Other
76%

51. “All people make mistakes. All of us are sinners. All
of us are criminals. All of us violate the law at some
point in our lives. In fact, if the worst thing you have
ever done is speed ten miles over the speed limit on
the freeway, you have put yourself and others at
more risk of harm than someone smoking
marijuana in the privacy of his or her living room.
Yet there are people in the United States serving life
sentences for first-time drug offenses, something
virtually unheard of anywhere else in the world.”