On November 13th, the CGO group contributed to a packed house as a result of author Michelle Alexander’s visit to the University of Oregon. The humanist, activist, moralist, and former Oregonian spoke on the subject of her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. She believes that America, as a nation, has returned to a “colorblind slumber” like that of the Civil Rights Movement. The only difference of today’s prejudices is that it’s “out of sight and out of mind.” Michelle said how society as a whole isn’t paying much attention to this incredible case of racial casting because it’s specifically occurring in our prisons, not plainly in the public.
During her 60-minute talk, Michelle emphasized facts that proved how the majority of today’s incarcerations are of black or other colored men who are charged for outrageous crimes just because of the color of their skins. Statistics she mentioned to us included that since thirty years ago, the number of arrested black men has quadrupled as a cause of America’s war on drugs. In 2005, 4 out of 5 arrests were for non-violent, possession charges for marijuana. Michelle brought up the issue of how law enforcers are targeting the “hoods” and the ghettos for these drug busts, ignoring those living in more rural areas that also buy and sell drugs as much as, or possibly even more than, people living in the projects. And as a result, after people are released from prison, necessities like employment, healthcare, housing, and other government issued items are almost completely non-existent. They are forced to live the rest of their lives with the label of being a criminal.
Michelle paused for a few moments before she asked us, “So, what do we do?” and “How can America wake up from this Civil Rights nightmare?” Michelle concluded with her guide to a better United States. She feels there needs to be an “underground railroad for those who are stigmatized” —a type of “safe haven” for incarcerated people to turn to after completing a prison sentence. She suggests society, as a whole needs to stop looking at criminals as “them,” but as “us” because “we all make mistakes.” Michelle ended the evening talk by saying, America’s shift from a punitive approach and our wake from this “colorblind slumber” needs to be one that is “multi-ethnic and multi-racial” because “everyone is worthy.”
The CGO group left the lecture hall seeming effected by Michelle Alexander’s words one way or another. Whether students agreed with her message or didn’t, her point came across, but we definitely want to hear more on the issue.