The birdcage metaphor explains how “the large number of wires arranged in a specific way, and connect to one another, serve to enclose the bird and to ensure that it cannot escape.” This is commonly used to describe systemic racism that plagues today’s institution, whether on purpose or subconsciously. With this metaphor, each wire of the cage represents a system in society that traps minorities in a lower position compared to the dominant group. For Both Hands Tied, Unequal Times, and The New Jim Crow, these wires represent the welfare system, managerial power over worker’s time, and mass incarceration, respectively, which Dr. McGriff understands and thus tries to align his behaviors to what is racially expected of him. In Both Hand Tied, the migration from a primarily male-dominated industrial-based economy to a more female-dominated service-based economy marked the beginning of the new system that would trap low-income minorities below the poverty line. Because low-wage women had replaced high-income men, this pushed some of these unemployed men to commit questionable actions that often lead to incarceration, leaving single mothers to fend for themselves and take care of the children. This often would lead to these mothers to take a leave or seek a new job, which would initiate the grueling cycle that was the welfare system. Facing the dueling role of breadwinner and the mother, these women would have to take up low-income occupations where they commonly faced
In the novel, The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, author and criminal rights lawyer, Michelle Alexander emphasizes her overall thesis as our nation is currently in a state of racism, prejudice, and mass incarceration, and it is ultimately turning back time to the years of Jim Crow. Throughout her novel, she analyzes series of significant civil rights cases that support her thesis, and describe ramifications that these cases had on her thesis. In my critical analysis, I will discuss the importance of Alexanders thesis describe several turning point cases and the ramifications these cases had on her thesis, and give my own argument of why I overall agree with Alexanders novel.
In her chapter “The New Jim Crow”, Michelle Alexander argues that the Drug War explicitly attacked poor blacks living in urban, ghetto neighborhoods. This form of racism can be visualized as iron wires of a bird cage. As Iris Marion Young stated, if there is only “one wire of the cage…it is difficult to understand how and why the bird is trapped” (184). Using the Drug War as an alibi, many have built near-invincible wires around the cage by utilizing legal forms such as laws, acts, and other legislative documents. From police brutality to misconceptions about incarceration, under the disguise of protecting blacks, the true purpose of the bird cage is to prevent the “bird” from ever escaping.
After a solid first read through Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow you are presented with an incredibly troubling issue that is plaguing America. Mass incarceration of minorities has become, as Alexander puts it “…metaphorically, the new Jim Crow”(11). The way in which Alexander presents her argument immediately in the first few pages of the book, may almost appear to be a sensationalist headline from a radical civil rights movement. However this is an intelligent move that acts as a hook for the reader, who is now interested and allows Alexander to develop her argument. By using the rhetorical strategies of a strong attention getter, followed by a concrete explanation on the development of mass incarceration, she creates the perfect lure
In addition to an increased provider role, women were also taking on many more duties around the house and with the children. Due to the reduced credit and skyrocketing prices, men were forced to spend more and more time away from home working on coffee, sugar cane, or cattle plantations. Women would have to go weeks at a time without the presence of her husband in the household. The increasing occurrences of this, led to a growing feeling of independence and resourcefulness among the women of the community. Men were
“...Jim Crow”, states Michelle Alexander, “appears to die but is then reborn in new form, tailored to the needs and constraints of the time” (page 16). Indeed, as Alexander argues throughout her book, the new Jim Crow of our modern time is ever-present and thriving in the country that is claimed to cater “for all”. This time, mass incarceration is the answer to the country’s troubles. Alexander’s thesis explains that racism is still alive in America through the new Jim Crow despite the progression of the black and brown man. The book focuses on how black men are still subject to the same racism that plagued their ancestors years ago. They are being trapped in a cycle formed by the criminal system which
The novel The New Jim Crows by Michelle Alexander is an examination of how the criminal justice system functions as a structure of racial bias. People of color are rendered second-class citizens after imprisonment by a racial caste system that marginalizes citizens of politically, economically, and socially. The novel begins with an explicit history of the black community in America. She depicts the chronological events of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights Movement, and today. Mass incarceration in America functions as a racial caste system, evidently like how the Jim Crow once operated. Once incarcerated citizens leave prison, they are prohibited to basic human rights, because of the systematic discrimination with public benefits like access to education, employment, and housing. The author applied above sufficient research; The New Jim Crow has a lengthy bibliography which supports the author's claims. Also, Michelle Alexander comes from a truly educated background. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt and Stanford. With a professional background in numerous highly prolific places; such as, the director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU and a law clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court. Her professional career has been devoted to the seeking of civil rights which The New Jim Crows centers on. The author possibly
Even though it was easy for women to obtain jobs in the field of domestic work or laundresses, they faced heavier exploitation; considering, that with these jobs women often had no time to care for their families. Leading a life in extreme poverty, these women had no choice, but to search for other opportunities to keep their families, and themselves, alive. At some point African American women even had to sacrifice their prides, in order to earn breadline wages to survive.
Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.
Margaret Laurence's A Bird in the House differentiates itself from the four other novels that make up the 'Manawaka series' that has helped establish her as an icon of Canadian literature. It does not present a single story; instead, it is a compilation of eight well-crafted short stories (written between the years 1962 and 1970) that intertwine and combine into a single narrative, working as a whole without losing the essential independence of the parts.
Before the Great Depression, there were limited job opportunities for women in the United States. Women were expected to get married and when they did, to give up their jobs if they had them and to conform to the social norms of the proper domestic American wife. Husbands were the head of the household and thus the breadwinners. Originally when the New Deal departments were created the government reinforced these gender stereotypes (Ware 1987). If a woman was married, she was barred from participating in the New Deal, even if she was dealing with a husband who could not or would not work. The preconceived notion was that women did not need to work if they had a husband, an idea which was shown to be
What attracts us to the movie theatre on Friday nights? Is it the commercials we see? Or is it all the gossip we hear from friends and TV talk shows? Well for many, it is the critiques we read and hear almost every day. One who specializes in the professional evaluation and appreciation of literary or artistic works is a critic. The profession of movie criticism is one of much diversity. Reviews range anywhere from phenomenal to average. Not only are movies created for the entertainment and sheer pleasure of the audience, they create a market of jobs and open doors to the world of financial growth. The success of these films, whether they are tremendous or atrocious, is not only dependent of the actual film, but
Privilege plays a major role in the novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird “by Harper Lee. Set in 1930’s during the great depression in the southern part of America where racism is predominant and still is in some parts of the world, portrays the lesson of “Privilege is real from race to baking cakes. Sometimes you’re born into it, and sometimes you’re born with it”. The bitter reality of this lesson is that it still exists and is hard to come to an end.
Due to both husband and wives working and people were able to purchase more goods for their home the economy began to rise after World War. The post-war reconstruction effort made the need for an expanded labour force urgent. In the late 1940s, the government launched campaigns to encourage women to enter or stay in the labour market, and encouraged the migration of workers from (former) British colonies to fill the labour shortages.The welfare state created many job opportunities in what was seen as ‘women’s work’. Jobs were available in the the newly created National Health Service for nurses, midwives, cleaners and clerical staff. Banking, textile and light industries such as electronics also expanded during this period and provided women with opportunities in clerical, secretarial and assembly work. Jobs were still strictly segregated by gender and routine repetitive work was categorised as women’s work for women’s lower wages (Striking,
The short story "The Birds" was written by Daphne du Maurrier and was filmed and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It has a very interesting and suspenseful plot. The short story was well written and the film was well played, both are very similar. Although, they have a few differences the film and short story have the same mood and theme. Would the differences in the film and the short story affect the suspenseful and frightening plot?Alfred Hitchcock did an outstanding job filming the movie matching it with the short story. In both the short story and film flocks and flocks of gulls, robins, and sparrows join each other.
A little girl and a young boy play in a field, as the sky gets darker. The clouds are not covering up the sun, but instead there are hundreds of large birds. The birds start to fill up the sky, it is just full of the animals all shape, size and size. The children start to bolt to safety, but they are too late. The birds dive bomb the children like rain, tearing at their fragile skin. This is the picture that Daphne du Maurie painted in your mind and Alfred Hitchcock put on your screen. Daphne du Maurier's short story “The Birds” was written in 1952, which lead to the idea of the movie The Birds in 1963 by Alfred Hitchcock.