--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As historian Lerone Bennett Jr…" description: "\"“As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A nation is a choice.' We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and conce..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44c/michelle-alexander-750_choice_as-historian-lerone-bennett-jr-eloquentl_913260.png" --- # As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A… ![“As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A nation is a choice.' We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and concern to those who are locked up and locked out or headed for prison before they are old enough to vote. We could seek for them the same opportunities…” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44c/michelle-alexander-750_choice_as-historian-lerone-bennett-jr-eloquentl_913260.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44c/michelle-alexander-750_choice_as-historian-lerone-bennett-jr-eloquentl_913260.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44c/michelle-alexander-750_choice_as-historian-lerone-bennett-jr-eloquentl_913260.png) > ““As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A nation is a choice.' We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and concern to those who are locked up and locked out or headed for prison before they are old enough to vote. We could seek for them the same opportunities we seek for our own children; we could treat them like one of 'us.' We could do that. Or we can choose to be a nation that shames and blames its most vulnerable, affixes badges of dishonor upon them at young ages, and then relegates them to a permanent second-class status for life. That is the path we have chosen, and it leads to a familiar place.”” [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A nation must decide whether to treat incarcerated people with dignity or marginalize them, shaping societal equity. **In simple terms:** Society chooses inclusion or exclusion of the vulnerable. Key Takeaway Advocate policies that restore dignity and equal opportunity. Themes justice inclusion policy human rights systemic bias Mood critical hopeful Type activist analytical When to use this quote - legislative advocacy - community support programs - rehabilitation services Key Concepts criminal justice reform social equity human dignity Questions to Reflect On - What policies can reduce stigma for formerly incarcerated individuals? - How does societal choice impact future generations? A Different Perspective Changing deep-rooted attitudes is challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Class status](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-status/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ## Related quotes > [“We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and concern to those who are locked up and locked out or headed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/we-could-choose-to-be-a-nation-that-extends-care-compassion-and/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Every age has its own poetry; in every age the circumstances of history choose a nation, a race, a class to take up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/every-age-has-its-own-poetry-in-every-age-the-circumstances-of/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [No choice we can make as a nation lies between our history and our geography. We can hardly change either of them. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/no-choice-we-can-make-as-a-nation-lies-between-our-history-and-our/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [The change we seek for our nation is not the choice of an individual but must be the calling of a country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-booker/the-change-we-seek-for-our-nation-is-not-the-choice-of-an-individual/) [Cory Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-booker/) > [“Merely reducing sentence length, by itself, does not disturb the basic architecture of the New Jim Crow. So long as large numbers of African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/merely-reducing-sentence-length-by-itself-does-not-disturb-the-basic/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [In this country, we force millions of people - who are largely black and brown - into a permanent second-class status simply because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/in-this-country-we-force-millions-of-people-who-are-largely-black-and/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-she-is-ushered-into-a-parallel/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Public housing officials are free to discriminate against you on the basis of criminal records, including arrest records. And so, you know, what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/public-housing-officials-are-free-to-discriminate-against-you-on-the/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [For reasons that have stunningly little to do with crime or crime rates, we, as a nation, have chosen to lock up more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/for-reasons-that-have-stunningly-little-to-do-with-crime-or-crime/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“of the nearly 7.3 million people currently under correctional control, only 1.6 million are in prison.27 This caste system extends far beyond prison walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/of-the-nearly-7-3-million-people-currently-under-correctional-control/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-you-ve-acquired-a-criminal-record-you-can-be-discriminated/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Certainly youth of color, particularly those in ghetto communities, find themselves born into the cage. They are born into a community in which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/certainly-youth-of-color-particularly-those-in-ghetto-communities/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Merely reducing prison terms does not have a major impact on the majority of people in the system. It is the badge of inferiority—the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/merely-reducing-prison-terms-does-not-have-a-major-impact-on-the/) [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/) > [Women feel like they have to choose. Am I going to have a career or am I going to have kids and that's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-yee/women-feel-like-they-have-to-choose-am-i-going-to-have-a-career-or-am/) [Angela Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-yee/) ## 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. 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Now either leave us alone or join us as a father rather than a receiver of sacrifices. You have the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/that-s-all-now-either-leave-us-alone-or-join-us-as-a-father-rather/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [There has always been a feeling with people that they love my singing but not always the choice of material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/there-has-always-been-a-feeling-with-people-that-they-love-my-singing/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [I have too many options when it comes to guitars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-have-too-many-options-when-it-comes-to-guitars/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [“Amazing how a small choice can change your life forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-c-dockens/amazing-how-a-small-choice-can-change-your-life-forever/) Randy C. Dockens > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Since I don't outline my books very much, I feel like sometimes I don't have a choice in what the characters do; they just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-todd/since-i-don-t-outline-my-books-very-much-i-feel-like-sometimes-i-don/) [Anna Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-todd/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Words can only have an effect on you if you choose to listen to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/words-can-only-have-an-effect-on-you-if-you-choose-to-listen-to-them/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) [Browse all 8,092 Choice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A nation is a choice.' 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