--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once a person is labeled a felon, he or…" description: "\"“Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png" --- # Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered… ![“Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, and privileges of citizenship such as voting and jury service are off-limits. It does not matter whether you have actually spent time in prison; your…” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png) > ““Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, and privileges of citizenship such as voting and jury service are off-limits. It does not matter whether you have actually spent time in prison; your second-class citizenship begins the moment you are branded a felon. Most people branded felons, in fact, are not sentenced to prison. As of 2008, there were approximately 2.3 million people in prisons and jails, and a staggering 5.1 million people under 'community correctional supervision' - i.e., on probation or parole. 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 felony record - that relegates people for their entire lives, to second-class status.”” [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 felony label creates a lifelong caste system, denying basic civic rights and fostering systemic discrimination regardless of actual imprisonment. **In simple terms:** Felony labels cause lasting social exclusion and loss of rights. Key Takeaway Advocate for record‑expungement and policy reform. Themes justice equality civil rights stigma policy reform Mood frustrated determined hopeful Type political analytical advocacy When to use this quote - voting rights - employment - housing - education - community reintegration Key Concepts mass incarceration social stratification legal discrimination Questions to Reflect On - How does a felony record affect daily life? - What reforms could dismantle this second‑class status? A Different Perspective Legal rights can be restored only through legislative change, not merely reduced sentences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Class status](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-status/) [Felons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felons/) [Parallel universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parallel-universe/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [Butler is branded a felon, an outlaw, an enemy of Mankind, and so ordered that in the event of his capture, the officer in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-davis/butler-is-branded-a-felon-an-outlaw-an-enemy-of-mankind-and-so/) [Jefferson Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-davis/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [Many of the old forms of discrimination that we supposedly left behind during the Jim Crow era are suddenly legal again, once you've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/many-of-the-old-forms-of-discrimination-that-we-supposedly-left/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Perhaps there should be a box on the census form that says, 'I'm a criminal.' Everyone who has ever committed a crime would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/perhaps-there-should-be-a-box-on-the-census-form-that-says-i-m-a/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [All the old forms of discrimination, the forms of discrimination we supposedly left behind, are now perfectly legal once you've been labeled a felon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/all-the-old-forms-of-discrimination-the-forms-of-discrimination-we/) [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/) > [Discrimination in virtually every aspect of political, economic, and social life is now perfectly legal if you've been labeled a felon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/discrimination-in-virtually-every-aspect-of-political-economic-and/) [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [“As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A nation is a choice.' We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/as-historian-lerone-bennett-jr-eloquently-reminds-us-a-nation-is-a/) [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/) ## 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 Class status quotes > [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/) > [“The main problem for women trying to emulate male sexuality is that as a ruling-class sexuality, it is constructed around the fact that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jeffreys/the-main-problem-for-women-trying-to-emulate-male-sexuality-is-that/) [Sheila Jeffreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jeffreys/) > [“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/) > [Whether it's social class status or your economic status, it is very evident that the top, if they get their way, will survive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hodge/whether-it-s-social-class-status-or-your-economic-status-it-is-very/) [Edwin Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hodge/) > [It is precisely because education is the road to equality and citizenship, that it has been made more elusive for Negroes than many other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/it-is-precisely-because-education-is-the-road-to-equality-and/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“In the wake of 1984’s pummeling the Michigan Democratic Party commissioned Stanley Greenberg, then a political scientist and later a preeminent Democratic pollster, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-haney-l-pez/in-the-wake-of-1984-s-pummeling-the-michigan-democratic-party/) [Ian Haney López](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-haney-l-pez/) > [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/) > [Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-is-more-common-than-unsuccessful-people-with-talent/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As historian Lerone Bennett Jr. eloquently reminds us, 'A nation is a choice.' We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/as-historian-lerone-bennett-jr-eloquently-reminds-us-a-nation-is-a/) [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/) > [If we do not provide education for every single American, we are consigning those without an education to second-class status.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-j-kennedy/if-we-do-not-provide-education-for-every-single-american-we-are/) [Patrick J. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-j-kennedy/) > [The few women who have been admitted to the study are usually given a second-class status in which they are taught only the basics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-few-women-who-have-been-admitted-to-the-study-are-usually-given-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It may not be replicable: One of the hardest transition that a developing country can make is the transition to middle-class status. Governments have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-morris/it-may-not-be-replicable-one-of-the-hardest-transition-that-a/) [Charles R. Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-morris/) > [“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/) > [We must continue to insist to our better off brothers and sisters that they are in the same racial boat as their less better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/we-must-continue-to-insist-to-our-better-off-brothers-and-sisters/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) [Browse all 34 Class status quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-status/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, and privileges of citizenship such as voting and jury service are off-limits. It does not matter whether you have actually spent time in prison; your second-class citizenship begins the moment you are branded a felon. Most people branded felons, in fact, are not sentenced to prison. As of 2008, there were approximately 2.3 million people in prisons and jails, and a staggering 5.1 million people under 'community correctional supervision' - i.e., on probation or parole. 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 felony record - that relegates people for their entire lives, to second-class status.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Alexander" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-she-is-ushered-into-a-parallel/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Class status" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-she-is-ushered-into-a-parallel/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22a/michelle-alexander-750_class-status_once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-s_2490210.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination…” — Michelle Alexander", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michelle Alexander", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Once a person is labeled a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-she-is-ushered-into-a-parallel/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/once-a-person-is-labeled-a-felon-he-or-she-is-ushered-into-a-parallel/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```