What really shocked me about this book is how strongly it made me feel about the flaws in our criminal justice system. I already knew that the US has the largest prison population, that minimum sentencing laws have gotten out of hand, that the War on Drugs is a waste, that ex-convicts lose voting rights in many states, and things like that. I already had a sense that the justice system didn't care about rehibilitating people so much as punishing them. But what Michelle Alexander brilliantly illustrates is that this system's main target is the incarceration of people of color. I know. Duh, right? But seriously, even though you think you might realize it, the extent of the problem is truly mind boggling. Sure, the system arose via racially coded "tough on crime" politics. But it insidiously maintains itself, because politicians who would even try to address the problem worry about being seen as soft on crime. Additionally, selectively enforced laws allow for both conscious and unconscious biases to determine who is arrested, who is tried, and who is given the harshest sentences. Even worse, in our color-blind society, we have a hard time seeing that there is a problem. Sure, one in three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are in prison or on parole, but Barack Obama is president. Therefore, there is no racial injustice, right? Even in the communities that are the targets of this selective justice, the social stigma of having family members in prison prevents people from rallying together to tackle the problem. This is not just a book on the unfariness of the criminal justice system, though. It's also about the creation of a new second class citizen: The convicted felon. While it's not legal to discriminate based on color, it's perfectly legal to deny housing, jobs, and even voting rights to ex-criminals. What better way to assure criminal recidivism, right? It's almost as if eliminating crime is not the main concern of the system! Ugh... I know I'm not doing a good job of communicating what's in this book. The stuff I've written sounds like stuff I've read before. Perhaps it would be better to give a link to the interview with Michelle Alexander that interested me in the book in the first place. It's illuminating to see that even she, as director of the ACLU's Racial Justice Project of Northern California, didn't realize the extent of the problem until a particular incident: "And the light bulb went on: 'Wow, he's right about me. I'm no better than the police.' I just started questioning myself: 'How am I as a civil rights lawyer, just replicating all the same forms of discrimination I say I'm out here fighting against?'" http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/5268/

This is an absolute necessary read for everyone. The author explains in a clear, detailed and precise manner the ongoing efforts our politics and culture are engaged in to maintain African-Americans as second class members of our society. Please read and share with everyone you know.