In 2004, there were more black men disenfranchised than in 1870 - the year the 15th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting laws that deny the right to vote exclusively on the basis of race.
Michelle AlexanderRead
Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined largely by race.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how mass incarceration functions as a system that perpetuates racial inequality, similar to Jim Crow laws and slavery.
In this quote, Michelle Alexander draws a parallel between historical systems of racial oppression, such as Jim Crow laws and slavery, and the contemporary issue of mass incarceration in the United States. She argues that mass incarceration is not merely a result of crime or individual wrongdoing but operates as a comprehensive network of legal, social, and institutional frameworks designed to maintain the subordination of racially defined groups, particularly African Americans. This systemic nature suggests that addressing these injustices requires more than reforming laws; it requires a profound societal shift in understanding and dismantling embedded racism.
Themes
Mass IncarcerationRacismSocial JusticeSystemic OppressionJim Crow
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on criminal justice reform, this quote can illustrate the need for systemic change.
More from Michelle Alexander
All quotes →My experience and research has led me to the regrettable conclusion that our system of mass incarceration functions more like a caste system than a system of crime prevention or control.
Michelle AlexanderRead
The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington, D.C., our nation’s capitol, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison.
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We have avoided in recent years talking openly and honestly about race out of fear that it will alienate and polarize. In my own view, it’s our refusal to deal openly and honestly with race that leads us to keep repeating these cycles of exclusion and division, and rebirthing a caste-like system that we claim we’ve left behind
Michelle AlexanderRead
No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid
Michelle AlexanderRead
There has been an outpouring of anger and concern because of the actions of George Zimmerman, a private citizen who profiled a young boy and pursued him and tried to confront him, perhaps. But what George Zimmerman did is no different than what police officers do every day as a matter of standard operating procedure.
Michelle AlexanderRead
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