WHAT IS THE HUMAN COST OF THE NEW JIM CROW? In every black part of cities or towns, you see alarming numbers of black men and women of all ages with felony convictions. Once labeled a felon, employment or any integration into society disappears. Today’s lynching is a felony charge. Today’s lynching is incarceration. Prisoners are hidden from public view because mass incarceration is a far more extreme form of physical and residential segregation than (the original) Jim Crow segregation.
Representation Matters Whether people realize it or not, media shapes their personalities by exposing them to select viewpoints and contexts. When the entertainment industry portrays minorities in specific situations, it can influence people’s perception of those minorities because people tend to comprehend their characteristics through visual and aural interactions. This one-dimensional characterization has closed off the true, multi-faceted culture of these minorities. For example, Hispanics are