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 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the alarming rates of incarceration among black Americans in comparison to apartheid-era South Africa.
Michelle Alexander's quote draws a stark comparison between the United States' imprisonment rates of its black population and the policies of apartheid in South Africa. It emphasizes the systemic issues of racial injustice and the overrepresentation of black individuals in the prison system, particularly among young black men in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. This statement serves to provoke thought about the social structures that perpetuate inequality and the consequences of failing to address these systemic injustices.
Themes
IncarcerationRacial InjusticeSystemic RacismBlack PopulationApartheidInequality
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about criminal justice reform, this quote can highlight the urgent 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.
Michelle AlexanderRead
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
The cyclical rebirth of caste in America is a recurring racial nightmare.
Michelle AlexanderRead
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