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
The uncomfortable reality we must face is that California, like the nation as a whole, has treated generations of African Americans and Latinos as largely disposable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the systemic marginalization of African Americans and Latinos in California and the broader society.
Michelle Alexander's quote addresses the uncomfortable truth regarding the historical and ongoing treatment of African Americans and Latinos in California, suggesting that these communities have been regarded as expendable in societal structures. This perspective invites readers to confront the realities of racial injustice and systemic inequality, urging a critical examination of how policies and societal attitudes have perpetuated discrimination and neglect against these populations.
Themes
RacismInequalityDisposabilitySocial JusticeMarginalization
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech at a social justice rally to emphasize the need for 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.
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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
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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
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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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