Chapter 1: The Rebirth of Caste Summary and Analysis

In conventional analyses of American history, systematic injustices directed toward people of color have been on a steady downfall since the days of race-based slavery. The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s was the final blow to institutionalized racism, and the ascent of Barack Obama, a black man, to the highest political office in the United States is proof that we now live in a "colorblind" society. Arguably, great progress has been made in achieving a fairer society, yet Alexander argues that this story largely misrepresents the conditions of poor and working class blacks today. "The superlative nature of individual black achievement today in formally white domains is a good indicator that the old Jim Crow is dead, but does not necessarily mean the end of racial caste" (Page 21). In Chapter One, Alexander...