--- title: "5 Racial Hierarchy Quotes By Michelle Alexander" description: "5 Racial Hierarchy quotes by Michelle Alexander. Plus more from Michelle Alexander and more Racial Hierarchy sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/michelle-alexander-750_change_the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-syst_118692.jpg" --- > [The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-system-employs-to-enforce-status/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/michelle-alexander-750_change_the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-syst_118692.jpg) > [A new race-neutral language was developed for appealing to old racist sentiments, a language accompanied by a political movement that succeeded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/a-new-race-neutral-language-was-developed-for-appealing-to-old-racist/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/michelle-alexander-750_acceptable_a-new-race-neutral-language-was-develope_1891961.jpg) > [“History reveals that the seeds of the new system of control were planted well before the end of the Civil Rights Movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-new-system-of-control-were/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36d/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-ne_2361353.jpg) > [“History reveals that the seeds of the new system of control were planted well before the end of the Civil Rights Movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-new-system-of-control-were-2/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-ne_2600309.png) > [“The language of caste may well seem foreign or unfamiliar to some. Public discussions about racial caste in America are relatively rare.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-language-of-caste-may-well-seem-foreign-or-unfamiliar-to-some/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/michelle-alexander-750_african-american_the-language-of-caste-may-well-seem-fore_3082670.jpg) ## More by Michelle Alexander > [If you ask for good schools, you aren't likely to get them. If you ask for jobs or economic investment, you won't get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-ask-for-good-schools-you-aren-t-likely-to-get-them-if-you-ask/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The uncomfortable reality we must face is that California, like the nation as a whole, has treated generations of African Americans and Latinos as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-uncomfortable-reality-we-must-face-is-that-california-like-the/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Seeing race is not the problem. Refusing to care for the people we see is the problem. The fact that the meaning of race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/seeing-race-is-not-the-problem-refusing-to-care-for-the-people-we-see/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Felon disenfranchisement laws have been more effective in eliminating black voters in the age of mass incarceration than they were under Jim Crow…These figures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/felon-disenfranchisement-laws-have-been-more-effective-in-eliminating/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“That was King’s dream—a society that is capable of seeing each of us, as we are, with love. That is a goal worth fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/that-was-king-s-dream-a-society-that-is-capable-of-seeing-each-of-us/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Activists take the risks, while advocates are professional tinkerers with the system. What's necessary is for those who are advocates to support those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/activists-take-the-risks-while-advocates-are-professional-tinkerers/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Civil rights protests were frequently depicted as criminal rather than political in nature, and federal courts were accused of excessive “lenience” toward lawlessness, thereby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/civil-rights-protests-were-frequently-depicted-as-criminal-rather/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [We cannot 'fix' the police without a revolution of values and radical change to the basic structure of our society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/we-cannot-fix-the-police-without-a-revolution-of-values-and-radical/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the problem of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-we-continue-to-tell-ourselves-the-popular-myths-about-racial/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The mass incarceration of poor people of color, particularly black men, has emerged as a new caste system, one specifically designed to address the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-incarceration-of-poor-people-of-color-particularly-black-men/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [ “\[T\]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/t-he-slave-went-free-stood-a-brief-moment-in-the-sun-then-moved-back/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas, like Chicago, have been labeled felons for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-take-into-account-prisoners-a-large-majority-of-african/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“A new civil rights movement cannot be organized around the relics of the earlier system of control if it is to address meaningfully the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/a-new-civil-rights-movement-cannot-be-organized-around-the-relics-of/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-system-employs-to-enforce-status/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racial-hierarchy/michelle-alexander/#itemlist", "name": "5 Racial Hierarchy Quotes By Michelle Alexander", "numberOfItems": 5, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as they are challenged.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Alexander" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-system-employs-to-enforce-status/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/michelle-alexander-750_change_the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-syst_118692.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/michelle-alexander-750_change_the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-syst_118692.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/michelle-alexander-750_change_the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-syst_118692.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial…” — Michelle Alexander", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A new race-neutral language was developed for appealing to old racist sentiments, a language accompanied by a political movement that succeeded in putting the vast majority of backs back in their place. 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A new race-neutral language was developed for appealing to old racist sentiments, a language accompanied by a political movement that succeeded in putting the vast majority of blacks back in their place. Proponents of racial hierarchy found they could install a new racial caste system without violating the law or the new limits of acceptable political discourse, by demanding “law and order” rather than “segregation forever.” The Birth of Mass Incarcerati”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Alexander" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-new-system-of-control-were-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-ne_2600309.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-ne_2600309.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a59/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_history-reveals-that-the-seeds-of-the-ne_2600309.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History reveals that the seeds of the new system of control were planted well before the end of the Civil…” — Michelle Alexander", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The language of caste may well seem foreign or unfamiliar to some. Public discussions about racial caste in America are relatively rare. We avoid talking about caste in our society because we are ashamed of our racial history. We also avoid talking about race. We even avoid talking about class. Conversations about class are resisted in part because there is a tendency to imagine that one's class reflects upon one's character. What is key to America's understanding of class is the persistent belief - despite all evidence to the contrary - that anyone, with the proper discipline and drive, can move from a lower class to a higher class. We recognize that mobility may be difficult, but the key to our collective self-image is the assumption that mobility is always possible, so failure to move up reflects on one's character. By extension, the failure of a race or ethnic group to move up reflects very poorly on the group as a whole. What is completely missed in the rare public debates today about the plight of African Americans is that a huge percentage of them are not free to move up at all. It is not just that they lack opportunity, attend poor schools, or are plagued by poverty. They are barred by law from doing so. And the major institutions with which they come into contact are designed to prevent their mobility. To put the matter starkly: The current system of control permanently locks a huge percentage of the African American community out of the mainstream society and economy. The system operates through our criminal justice institutions, but it functions more like a caste system than a system of crime control. Viewed from this perspective, the so-called underclass is better understood as an undercaste - a lower caste of individuals who are permanently barred by law and custom from mainstream society. Although this new system of racialized social control purports to be colorblind, it creates and maintains racial hierarchy much as earlier systems of control did. 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.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Alexander" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-language-of-caste-may-well-seem-foreign-or-unfamiliar-to-some/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/michelle-alexander-750_african-american_the-language-of-caste-may-well-seem-fore_3082670.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/michelle-alexander-750_african-american_the-language-of-caste-may-well-seem-fore_3082670.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/michelle-alexander-750_african-american_the-language-of-caste-may-well-seem-fore_3082670.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The language of caste may well seem foreign or unfamiliar to some. 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