--- 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 ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/michelle-alexander-750_access-to-education_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_1770315.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/369/michelle-alexander-750_access-to-education_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_1770315.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/michelle-alexander-750_access-to-education_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_1770315.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/369/michelle-alexander-750_access-to-education_more-than-2-million-people-found-themsel_1770315.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. The system functioned relatively automatically, and the prevailing system of racial meanings, identities, and ideologies already seemed natural. Ninety percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses in many states were black or Latino, yet the mass incarceration of communities of color was explained in race-neutral terms, an adaptation to the needs and demands of the current political climate. The New Jim Crow was born.”” [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 disproportionately targets people of color, creating a modern caste system under the guise of race‑neutral policies. **In simple terms:** Mass incarceration creates a new racial caste system. Key Takeaway Address systemic bias in criminal justice. Themes racial justice mass incarceration systemic oppression Mood urgent critical Type activist educational When to use this quote - criminal justice reform - voting rights advocacy - community organizing - educational programs Key Concepts critical race theory policy analysis sociology Questions to Reflect On - How can society dismantle the modern caste system? - What role does public perception play in sustaining mass incarceration? A Different Perspective Changing laws alone may not dismantle deep‑seated biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Access to education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/access-to-education/) [Incarceration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incarceration/) [Incarceration Communities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incarceration-communities-1773796/) [Jim crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jim-crow/) [Mass incarceration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-incarceration/) [New Jim Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-jim-crow/) [Prevailing Racial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevailing-racial-1774492/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [States Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states-black-607392/) ## Related quotes > [“Ninety percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses in many states were black or Latino, yet the mass incarceration of communities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/ninety-percent-of-those-admitted-to-prison-for-drug-offenses-in-many-2/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The system functioned relatively automatically, and the prevailing system of racial meanings, identities, and ideologies already seemed natural. Ninety percent of those admitted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-system-functioned-relatively-automatically-and-the-prevailing/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Ninety percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses in many states were black or Latino, yet the mass incarceration of communities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ninety-percent-of-those-admitted-to-prison-for-drug-offenses-in-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This book argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should fully commit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/this-book-argues-that-mass-incarceration-is-metaphorically-the-new-2/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“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/) > [The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-new-jim-crow-mass-incarceration-in-the-age-of-colorblindness/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“This book argues that mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow and that all those who care about social justice should fully commit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/this-book-argues-that-mass-incarceration-is-metaphorically-the-new/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [As described in 'The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,' the cyclical rebirth of caste in America is a recurring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/as-described-in-the-new-jim-crow-mass-incarceration-in-the-age-of/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Today my elation over Obama's election is tempered by a far more sobering awareness. As an African American woman, with three young children who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/today-my-elation-over-obama-s-election-is-tempered-by-a-far-more/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [I was never an R&B artist. People coined me one, but that's because, especially if you're in the States, if you're black and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelis/i-was-never-an-r-b-artist-people-coined-me-one-but-that-s-because/) [Kelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelis/) > [I am the attorney general of the United States. But I am also a black man,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-holder/i-am-the-attorney-general-of-the-united-states-but-i-am-also-a-black/) [Eric Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-holder/) > [To change history is very slow. The first two times I came to the States - black people didn't have the right to vote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/to-change-history-is-very-slow-the-first-two-times-i-came-to-the/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [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/) > [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/) ## 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/) [Explore all 381 Michelle Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## More Access to education quotes > [Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-napolitano/public-schools-were-designed-as-the-great-equalizers-of-our-society/) [Janet Napolitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-napolitano/) > [A basic element of the American dream is equal access to education as the lubricant of social and economic mobility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-kristof/a-basic-element-of-the-american-dream-is-equal-access-to-education-as/) [Nicholas Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-kristof/) > [Students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society. When you trap people in a system of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/students-who-acquire-large-debts-putting-themselves-through-school/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are 4 billion cell phones in use today. Many of them are in the hands of market vendors, rickshaw drivers, and others who've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/there-are-4-billion-cell-phones-in-use-today-many-of-them-are-in-the/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“Adolescence is a period of life when the brain is malleable, and it represents a good opportunity for learning and social development. However, according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/adolescence-is-a-period-of-life-when-the-brain-is-malleable-and-it/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [With broadband access, we can revolutionize global access to education, health care, economic empowerment, and the delivery of critical human needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tae-yoo/with-broadband-access-we-can-revolutionize-global-access-to-education/) [Tae Yoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tae-yoo/) > [In my travels all over the world, I have come to realize that what distinguishes one child from another is not ability, but access.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/in-my-travels-all-over-the-world-i-have-come-to-realize-that-what/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) > [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/) > [As the photographer, it's challenging to make images that read quickly and are powerful, but have enough humanity and compassion. 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