It is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. Yet, as legal star Alexander reveals, today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against convicted criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. 304 pp. 50,000 print.

Reviews

Devastating. . . . Alexander does a fine job of truth-telling, pointing a finger where it rightly should be pointed: at all of us, liberal and conservative, white and black.
--"Forbes"

Alexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a "much-needed conversation" about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of our
criminal-justice policies.
--"Newsweek"

Invaluable . . . a timely and stunning guide to the labyrinth of propaganda, discrimination, and racist policies masquerading under other names that comprises what we call justice in America.
--"Daily Kos"

Many critics have cast doubt on the proclamations of racism's erasure in the Obama era, but few have presented a case as powerful as Alexander's.
--"In These Times"

Carefully researched, deeply engaging, and thoroughly readable.
--"Publishers Weekly"

[Written] with rare clarity, depth, and candor.
--"Counterpunch"

A call to action for everyone concerned with racial justice and an important tool for anyone concerned with understanding and dismantling this oppressive system.
--"Sojourners"

Undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.
--"Birmingham News"