Valle 1

Cecilia Valle
Dr. Thea Alvarado
Sociology 1
5 August 2016
Mass Incarceration and The Conflict Theory
Following the Civil War, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States in
1865, while the birth of a new system, The Jim Crow took its place. Due to the backlash that
Southern Whites had towards former slaves and their freedom, they led a campaign to redeem
the South to its former glory. This lead to the birth of terrorist campaigns by the Ku Klux Klan,
mass imprisonment and forced labor through systems such as debt peonage and prison labor
camps. Eventually, these systems of forced labor very similar to slavery lead to the passage of
many laws throughout the South in order to to prevent African Americans from integrating with
white society. These laws and systems became known as The Jim Crow Era. The Civil Rights
Movement sought to end the Jim Crow Era, and in its success came the birth of yet another
caste system, one in which we are still in today: Mass Incarceration. Since the declaration of the
War On Drugs by President Richard Nixon, the public debate over segregation shifted to crime.
This new system is taking a new face, and it is hiding behind the law, making it even more
difficult to prove. Members of Nixons campaign have come forward to prove that Nixons War
on Drugs was a deliberate racially motivated tactic. One of his advisors said, He [Richard
Nixon] emphasized that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The
key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to (qtd. in Alexander 40).
Due to the war on drugs declared in 1971, the public opinions towards African
Americans and other minorities to have drugs on them at all times. According to Alexander, the

Valle 2
term unreasonable suspicion has given leeway for police officers and law enforcement officials
to stop about anyone they please, and many are uninformed that they can say no to police
officers when they are stopped for no apparent reason (51). The most apparent evidence that drug
is a system that works in favor of the majority race is the discriminatory sentencing in drug
charges. Before 1986, cocaine and crack were not distinguished as different substances, but the
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 distinguished crack cocaine as a drug worse than cocaine, which is
the cause of harsher sentencing for crack (Zimmerman 2). If a person is found in possession with
500 grams of cocaine, they are given a 5 year sentence. Yet if a person is found with 5 grams of
crack, they get the same sentence (Alexander 83). They key to understanding why these
disparities in charges lead to the mass incarceration of African Americans and other minorities is
because crack cocaine attracted users that could not afford the purer form, powder cocaine.
Once someone is put in prison for even a minor drug charge, they are faced with the
challenge of resocializing themselves back into society with a prison label on their name. Being
labeled as a felon, Alexander explains, forces a person into discrimination, stigma, and legal
exclusion. In addition, the privileges one has as a citizen becomes revoked; including the right to
vote (72). An example of this label not allowing someone with the prison label not being able to
have the same opportunities as a normal citizen is because they are forced to check a box that
says they have been arrested or are considered felons, regardless if time was served or not. This
prohibits many from being able to find a home, live in wealthier communities, find a stable job,
or receive support from the government such as food stamps. As a result of the harsh
discrimination labeled felons face when trying to reintegrate themselves, or resocialize back into
society, about 30% of released prisoners are rearrested within 6 months after their release (72).
According to Drug War Facts, 53% of black prisoners in 2014 were there for drug offences and

Valle 3
57% of Hispanics were in prison for drug charges (Prisons, Jails, and People Arrested for
Drugs). Although many believe that reducing time sentences as an attempt to alleviate the harm
imposed on those in the prison system, those released will still face the obstacles forced on them
due to the prison label. These obstacles are a form of the glass ceiling that ex-convicts face
because they were initially targeted because of their race.
The conflict theory, as described by Karl Marx, argues that there are two distinct groups
in society called the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, or in simpler terms those in power and those
that do anything to keep the minority in control. In the case of slavery, Jim Crow Era, and Mass
Incarceration the ruling class are taking their control and enforcing it on the lower minority class.
The sentencing laws are a clear example that the ruling class, which were White Americans,
wanted to restrict Black minorities and other people of color from having too much freedom,
thus they created a caste system behind the law that kept them in their control. In addition to
mass incarcerating minorities, law enforcement governments have a quota to meet and they must
maintain at least 75% occupancy in prisons or they will owe the prisons money. By making
incarceration of business, they are able to maintain control. In addition to this quota, the
government pays police departments cash grants to anyone willing to prioritize the War on
Drugs. These behavior of smoking crack cocaine and other drugs is seen as a deviant behavior in
society, meaning that they go against the societal norms (The Conflict Perspective on Deviance).
The conflict theory best describes why there are institutions such as slavery, Jim Crow, and Mass
Incarceration: that one group forces its power and control over the other to maintain a dominant
role in society.
The Era of Mass Incarcerations is just beginning to gain recognition through movements
such as Black Lives Matter. The movement is fighting for the awareness of police misconduct,

Valle 4
brutality, and false searches that lead to the deaths of many black Americans. Police misconduct
and false searches are what aid the War on Drugs and lead to the mass imprisonment of blacks
and other people of color. Reducing sentencing disparities may help with overcrowding in
prisons, however it does not help remove the prison label from someone once it is given to them.
The Prison Label makes resocialization nearly impossible, forcing them to be seen as even less
than citizens. Mass Incarceration and the War on Drugs are best viewed through the
macrosociological perspective, the conflict theory.

Works Cited
"13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." 100 Milestone Documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Aug.
2016.
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. New York: New Press, 2011. Print.
"The Conflict Perspective on Deviance." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
"Prisons, Jails, and People Arrested for Drugs." Drug War Facts. Common Sense for Drug

Valle 5
Policy, n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2016.
Zimmerman, Kristin (2014) "The Unfair Sentencing Act: Racial Disparities and Fiscal
Consequences of America's Drug Laws," Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies
and Forensic Science: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 10.