The New Jim Crow is an intense dive into the American Criminal Justice System that has opened my eyes to a much deeper structure within mass incarceration that goes beyond the notion of it targeting African Americans disproportionately. Going into detail about how Slavery and Jim Crow transformed into this new caste system was beautifully explained by Alexander and she drew many great parallels between Jim Crow and mass incarceration.

I really enjoyed her deep analysis of the construction of mass incarceration within chapter 2. This was probably the most intense chapter of the book and I had found myself having to pause and return to the book because of how much information laid out by Alexander overwhelmed me.

On the other hand, while the book was condensed with facts, it seemed repetitive and was very annoying at times because it felt like I was in a loop of rediscovering information she already discussed in previous chapters or even a few pages before. This though was just a small problem I had with her writing style. However, it doesn't take away from how amazing the book was.

Overall, I wish Alexander provided an updated edition of the book being 10 years old and seeing much of the points she rose (like her suggestion of a mass movement to end mass incarceration) have already emerged post-publication of this book. I would love to know her thoughts are on the current rise in the Black Lives Matter Movement and especially a bit more commentary on Joe Biden now that he is the President. Though this is a hope, the information is timeless and still brings forward much of the issues of the current mass incarceration problem.