Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) - Columbus, OH discussion

Hi all! A friend recommended that I create a discussion thread for everyone to introduce themselves, and to reflect on some pre-reading questions without the pressure of having to have read any of the book yet. I thought this would be a great way to break the ice, meet our fellow book club members, and get discussion started!

First, please introduce yourself:

1) Preferred name and pronouns
2) How you found out about this group / why you joined
3) Anything else you would like us to know about you

Then, reflect and respond to any of the following pre-reading questions:

1) The title of the book is "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness". Before opening the book, how does the idea that the US prison system is equivalent to the Jim Crow system strike you? Is it something that you have considered before? Does it seem like an extreme claim? What are your initial gut reactions?

2) What biases, stereotypes, or assumptions might influence your thinking on the topics explored in this book? Do you expect to have any of your beliefs or assumptions challenged?

Hi Everyone! I`m Edie Driskill and my first awareness of the book was when my son was reading it in college, around 2012 and he was impressed that the author lived here.I skimmed it then and felt it was an academic attempt to make some very difficult concepts more understandable to people like me, who were years away from any academic discussion of racism.

Introducing myself:
1) Preferred name and pronouns - Jillian, she/her/hers
2) How you found out about this group / why you joined - I've been to a few SURJ meetings and am on the listserv. I wanted to educate myself more and get to know some people in the process!
3) Anything else you would like us to know about you - I had to return my copy of this book to the library shortly after starting it. It looks like there are multiple holds on all the copies. Good problem for Columbus to have, I guess...

Then, reflect and respond to any of the following pre-reading questions:

1) The title of the book is "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness". Before opening the book, how does the idea that the US prison system is equivalent to the Jim Crow system strike you? Is it something that you have considered before? Does it seem like an extreme claim? What are your initial gut reactions?
Mass incarceration as a social problem is not a new concept for me. Mass incarceration as a system designed to replicate Jim Crow IS new to me. The idea seemed a bit extreme at first, but makes sense especially given the combination of POC being over-represented and the life-long limits on civil rights for those imprisoned or formerly imprisoned.

2) What biases, stereotypes, or assumptions might influence your thinking on the topics explored in this book? Do you expect to have any of your beliefs or assumptions challenged?
I think my primary assumption that I expect to have challenged (once I find another copy of the book) is that mass incarceration closely resembling Jim Crow is mostly accidental.

Off to look for a used copy on Amazon...

First, please introduce yourself:

1) Caitlyn, she/her/hers

2) I'm on the SURJ Communications Team, and I am the moderator for this Goodreads group. Whenever you see the SURJ Goodreads account posting something, it's probably me who's posting it :) We thought that starting a reading group would be a great way to educate our members as well as engage more people.

3) I work for the Ohio Department of Education, I have a mini-schnauzer named Luna, and I LOVE to read :D

Then, reflect and respond to any of the following pre-reading questions:

1) Similar to what Julia above me said, the idea of mass incarceration as a general societal problem is not new to me, but idea of mass incarceration as a new system of racialized social control - and the fact that it was designed that way - IS relatively new to me. I think that despite the fact that I am pretty well-versed, at least more so than your average American, on racial justice issues, I still have been indoctrinated with the idea that no matter what racial issues still remain in the US, at least things are better than they were in the 1960s. At least the KKK isn't running rampant. At least people don't openly call black people the N-word anymore, etc. (Though, admittedly, in the past year many of those things have begun to change, as well). However, this book really opened my eyes to how little things have changed or, I guess more aptly put, how much things have changed on the surface, but how little has ACTUALLY changed in terms of outcomes for many PoC.

2) As I mentioned above, I think I still have some of those biases that incline me to think, "Even though things are bad, at least they aren't THAT bad (in reference to Jim Crow, slavery, etc.)." That is something this book has helped me to confront. The other idea that I had to come to terms with, and which Michelle Alexander really helps break down, is the idea that mass incarceration is different from Jim Crow because people who are imprisoned CHOSE to break the law, therefore if they had made better decisions, they wouldn't be part of the system. I think that idea is one that MANY Americans will struggle to overcome as the issue of mass incarceration as a specifically racialized phenomenon, as an institution similar to Jim Crow, becomes more prevalent and part of mainstream discussions on race and inequality.

Jillian wrote: "Introducing myself:
1) Preferred name and pronouns - Jillian, she/her/hers
2) How you found out about this group / why you joined - I've been to a few SURJ meetings and am on the listserv. I wanted..."

Thanks for introducing yourself, Jillian! I also had to get on the waiting list for this book at the library, so I completely understand where you're coming from! I actually ended up binge-reading the second half of the book in just 2 days because I realized my copy was due back to the library and I couldn't renew it! Haha.

Hopefully you can find a good second-hand copy or can borrow from someone. Glad you are part of the group!

1) Preferred name and pronouns
Emily, she/her/hers

2) How you found out about this group / why you joined

I heard an interview with Dara Silverman on Real Talk Radio podcast and decided to find the local SURJ chapter.

I read The New Jim Crow last year, and it was alarming and excellent. (It was alarming *because* it was excellent, and vice versa.) Before I read the book, I was aware that the criminal justice system was biased against POC, but I didn't know the depth and the institutionalization of this bias until I read the book.

Ee.glenngmail.com wrote: "1) Preferred name and pronouns
Emily, she/her/hers

2) How you found out about this group / why you joined

I heard an interview with Dara Silverman on Real Talk Radio podcast and decided to find t..."

Hi Emily! Welcome to the group. I'm so glad you joined :)

I know you've already read the book, but feel free to contribute to any of the discussion boards if you have thoughts related to the reading questions.

We'll be starting a new reading selection at the beginning of March, so hopefully it will be one you haven't yet read! :)

Oh yes, definitely! I’ve wanted to discuss it more than I have and re-read parts.