Incarceration Quotes by Michelle Alexander

“People of color are actually no more likely to be guilty of drug crimes and many other offenses than whites.”

— Michelle Alexander

“Until 1988, one year of imprisonment had been the maximum for possession of any amount of any drug.”

— Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

— Michelle Alexander

In this era of mass incarceration, the police shouldn't be trusted any more than any other witness, perhaps less so.

— Michelle Alexander

The system of mass incarceration depends almost entirely on the cooperation of those it seeks to control.

— Michelle Alexander

Black men with criminal records are the most severely disadvantaged group in the labor market.

— Michelle Alexander

Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs

— Michelle Alexander

Mass incarceration is the most pressing racial justice issue of our time.

— Michelle Alexander

Nationwide, 1 in 3 black men can expect to serve time behind bars, but the rates are far higher in segregated and…

— Michelle Alexander

Most criminologists today will acknowledge that crime rates and incarceration rates in the United States have had relatively little to do with…

— Michelle Alexander

Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that operate collectively…

— Michelle Alexander

I am still committed to building a movement to end mass incarceration, but I will not do it with blinders on. If…

— Michelle Alexander

In this country, we force millions of people - who are largely black and brown - into a permanent second-class status simply…

— Michelle Alexander

As described in 'The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,' the cyclical rebirth of caste in America is…

— Michelle Alexander

“Ex-offenders are expected to pay fines and court costs, and submit paperwork to multiple agencies in an effort to win back a…

— Michelle Alexander

There are more African Americans under correctional control, in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850 a…

— Michelle Alexander

If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the…

— Michelle Alexander

“As law enforcement budgets exploded, so did prison and jail populations. In 1991, the Sentencing Project reported that the number of people…

— Michelle Alexander

For those who say that the war on drugs and the system of mass incarceration really isn't about race, I say there…

— Michelle Alexander

The great gift of 'Incarceration Nations' is that, by introducing a wide range of approaches to crime, punishment, and questions of justice…

— Michelle Alexander

Just providing information about how bad things are, or the statistics and data on incarceration by themselves, does lead to more depression…

— Michelle Alexander

When young black men reach a certain age - whether or not there is incarceration in their families - they themselves are…

— Michelle Alexander

Of course in this age of colorblindness, a time when we have supposedly moved "beyond race," we as a nation would feel…

— Michelle Alexander

The United States does have the highest rate of incarceration in the world dwarfing the rates of even highly repressive regimes like…

— Michelle Alexander

“More than 2 million people found themselves behind bars at the turn of the twenty-first century, and millions more were relegated to…

— Michelle Alexander

Today there are more African-Americans under correctional control, in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850, a…

— Michelle Alexander

“It is fair to say that we have witnessed an evolution in the United States from a racial caste system based entirely…

— Michelle Alexander

Arguably the most important parallel between mass incarceration and Jim Crow is that both have served to define the meaning and significance…

— Michelle Alexander

“The state of Mississippi eventually moved from hiring convict labor to organizing its own convict labor camp, known as Parchman Farm. It…

— Michelle Alexander

I think this mythology - that we're all beyond race, of course our police officers aren't racist, of course our politicians don't…

— Michelle Alexander

“This book argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should…

— Michelle Alexander

“What this book intended to do - the only thing it is intended to do - is to stimulate a much-needed conversation…

— Michelle Alexander

“The notion that a vast gulf exists between "criminals" and those of us who have never served time in prison is a…

— Michelle Alexander

“The impact of the new caste system is most tragically felt among the young. In Chicago (as in other cities across the…

— Michelle Alexander

“The process occurs in two stages. The first step is to grant law enforcement officials extraordinary discretion regarding whom to stop, search,…

— Michelle Alexander

“The racial dimension of mass incarceration is its most striking feature. No other country in the world imprisons so many of its…

— Michelle Alexander

Mass incarceration is a massive system of racial and social control.

— Michelle Alexander

The greatest myth about mass incarceration is that it has been driven by crime and crime rates. It's just not true.

— Michelle Alexander

Incarceration rates - especially black incarceration rates - have soared regardless of whether crime has been going up or down in any…

— Michelle Alexander

“This book argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should…

— Michelle Alexander