--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: More than 2 million people found…" description: "\"More than 2 million people found themselves behind bars at the turn of the twenty-first century, and millions more were relegated to the margins of mai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/michelle-alexander-750_access_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_2143897.jpg" --- # More than 2 million people found themselves behind bars at… ![“More than 2 million people found themselves behind bars at the turn of the twenty-first century, and millions more were relegated to the margins of mainstream society, banished to a political and social space not unlike Jim Crow, where discrimination in employment, housing, and access to education…” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/michelle-alexander-750_access_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_2143897.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/michelle-alexander-750_access_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_2143897.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45f/michelle-alexander-750_access_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_2143897.jpg) > “More than 2 million people found themselves behind bars at the turn of the twenty-first century, and millions more were relegated to the margins of mainstream society, banished to a political and social space not unlike Jim Crow, where discrimination in employment, housing, and access to education was perfectly legal, and where they could be denied the right to vote.” [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. Mass incarceration functions as a modern caste system, marginalizing millions and denying basic rights. **In simple terms:** Mass incarceration creates a modern caste system. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge systemic oppression. Themes justice race policy inequality civil rights Mood somber critical determined Type analytical activist When to use this quote - criminal justice reform - voting rights activism - housing advocacy - employment equity Key Concepts systemic racism mass incarceration social exclusion Questions to Reflect On - How does incarceration affect civic participation? - What policies can dismantle systemic barriers? A Different Perspective Legal reforms alone cannot erase deep social stigma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Access](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/access/) [Access to education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/access-to-education/) [Discrimination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discrimination/) [Employment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employment/) [Housing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing/) [Jim crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jim-crow/) [Mainstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainstream/) [Mainstream society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainstream-society/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Right to vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-to-vote/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vote/) ## Related quotes > [“Through a web of laws, regulations, and informal rules, all of which are powerfully reinforced by social stigma, they are confined to the margins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/through-a-web-of-laws-regulations-and-informal-rules-all-of-which-are/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [ For the rest of their lives, \[black men\] can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/for-the-rest-of-their-lives-black-men-can-be-denied-the-right-to-vote/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Those labeled felons may be denied the right to vote, are automatically excluded from juries, and may be legally discriminated against in employment, housing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/those-labeled-felons-may-be-denied-the-right-to-vote-are/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 the margins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/more-than-2-million-people-found-themselves-behind-bars-at-the-turn/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Felons are typically stripped of the very rights supposedly won in the civil rights movement, including the right to vote, the right to serve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/felons-are-typically-stripped-of-the-very-rights-supposedly-won-in/) [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/) > [Once labeled a felon, you are ushered into a parallel social universe. You can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-labeled-a-felon-you-are-ushered-into-a-parallel-social-universe/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Millions of people are unable to vote due to felony convictions with the highest rates among black men. People in prison are denied the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/millions-of-people-are-unable-to-vote-due-to-felony-convictions-with/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [People on probation and parole are typically denied the right to vote, and in eleven states people are denied the right to vote even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/people-on-probation-and-parole-are-typically-denied-the-right-to-vote/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [In fact, in some countries there are actually voting drives conducted in prison! But here in the U.S., we seem to take the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/in-fact-in-some-countries-there-are-actually-voting-drives-conducted/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Voting rights expert and legal scholar Pam Karlan reports that as of 2004, there were more black men disenfranchised than in 1870, the year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/voting-rights-expert-and-legal-scholar-pam-karlan-reports-that-as-of/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/today-it-is-perfectly-legal-to-discriminate-against-criminals-in/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination - employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-you-re-labeled-a-felon-the-old-forms-of-discrimination/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [I've spent my entire adult life encouraging minority communities to get involved in mainstream society, civic society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadiq-khan/i-ve-spent-my-entire-adult-life-encouraging-minority-communities-to/) [Sadiq Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadiq-khan/) > [By definition, poetry works with qualities and dynamics that mainstream society is reluctant to face head-on. It's an interesting phenomenon that by necessity, poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/by-definition-poetry-works-with-qualities-and-dynamics-that/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) ## 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. 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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/) [Explore all 381 Michelle Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## More Access quotes > [Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. 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