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
Once you've acquired a criminal record, you can be discriminated against legally in employment, housing, and access to education and public benefits. You're relegated to a permanent second-class status, forever a 'criminal.' Inflicting this amount of unnecessary pain and suffering is not cheap.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Having a criminal record can permanently affect an individual's life opportunities and social standing.
This quote highlights the profound and lasting consequences of having a criminal record, emphasizing how it leads to discrimination in critical life areas such as employment, housing, and education. The author argues that this system of discrimination perpetuates a cycle of suffering and marginalization, establishing a hierarchy where those with criminal records are unjustly relegated to a lower status in society.
Themes
Criminal RecordDiscriminationJusticeEmploymentHousingEducation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on criminal justice reform.
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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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