--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Prisoners do matter when analyzing the…" description: "\"Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial inequality in the U.S. Yet because they are out of sight and out of mind, it is easy to imagi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png" --- # Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial… ![“Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial inequality in the U.S. Yet because they are out of sight and out of mind, it is easy to imagine that we are making far more racial progress than we actually are.” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png) > “Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial inequality in the U.S. Yet because they are out of sight and out of mind, it is easy to imagine that we are making far more racial progress than we actually are.” [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. Invisible incarcerated populations skew perceptions of racial progress, leading to underestimation of systemic inequality. **In simple terms:** Prisoners are hidden, so we think racism is less severe. Key Takeaway Include incarcerated groups in racial analyses. Themes racial inequality incarceration perception policy justice Mood critical concerned Type analytical policy-oriented When to use this quote - criminal justice reform - policy making - academic research - media reporting Key Concepts systemic bias data invisibility social blind spots Questions to Reflect On - How does invisibility affect public opinion? - What policies change when prisoners are counted? A Different Perspective Data on incarcerated populations is often incomplete or politicized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Inequality Sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality-sight-816430/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Prisoners Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoners-matter-816428/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Racial Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racial-inequality-311674/) [Racial Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racial-progress-816429/) [Severity Racial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/severity-racial-816431/) ## Related quotes > [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 clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-clock-has-been-turned-back-on-racial-progress-in-america-though/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“I just came this morning and haven't been debriefed yet about the status of our latest prisoners. As a matter of fact, I'd barely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-aycart/i-just-came-this-morning-and-haven-t-been-debriefed-yet-about-the/) [Elle Aycart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-aycart/) > [“Love took prisoners no matter what the circumstances; it broke open the heart with no regard for consequences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-hurst/love-took-prisoners-no-matter-what-the-circumstances-it-broke-open/) [Andrea Hurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-hurst/) > [It's important to establish why racial inequality exists and then focus on the solution. But it needs facts over feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-jordan/it-s-important-to-establish-why-racial-inequality-exists-and-then/) [Simon Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-jordan/) > [The more I've been able to learn about gay rights and equal pay and gender equity and racial inequality, the more that it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rapinoe/the-more-i-ve-been-able-to-learn-about-gay-rights-and-equal-pay-and/) [Megan Rapinoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rapinoe/) > [If we truly want to make America great, we need to fix this racial inequality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t/if-we-truly-want-to-make-america-great-we-need-to-fix-this-racial/) [Booker T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t/) > [We're all burdened by our history of racial inequality. It's created a kind of smog that we all breathe in, and it has prevented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/we-re-all-burdened-by-our-history-of-racial-inequality-it-s-created-a/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [We need to intentionally invest in health, in home ownership, in entrepreneurship, in access to democracy, in economic empowerment. If we don't do these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-buttigieg/we-need-to-intentionally-invest-in-health-in-home-ownership-in/) [Pete Buttigieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-buttigieg/) > [I believe the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a very large swath of the American population, really wants to imagine that race and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/i-believe-the-u-s-supreme-court-as-well-as-a-very-large-swath-of-the/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Here's the thing. When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it's all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/here-s-the-thing-when-we-talk-about-race-relations-in-america-or/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [“Stamped from the Beginning presents this new history. It does not use terms like overt and covert, or explicit and implicit to describe the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/stamped-from-the-beginning-presents-this-new-history-it-does-not-use/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [The American idea of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-american-idea-of-racial-progress-is-measured-by-how-fast-i-become/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [“Every period of racial progress in this country is followed by a period of retrenchment. That’s what the 2016 election was about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/every-period-of-racial-progress-in-this-country-is-followed-by-a/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [“Every period of racial progress in this country is followed by a period of retrenchment. That’s what the election was about. It’s like in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/every-period-of-racial-progress-in-this-country-is-followed-by-a-2/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) ## 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 Easy quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [I don't want easy success. It's boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudeep/i-don-t-want-easy-success-it-s-boring/) [Sudeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudeep/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/she-got-a-reputation-for-an-easy-smile-and-a-sharp-tongue-and-using/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [People think that the Club World Cup is an easy competition, but it's not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keylor-navas/people-think-that-the-club-world-cup-is-an-easy-competition-but-it-s/) [Keylor Navas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keylor-navas/) > [New York is large, glamorous, easy-going, kindly and incurious, but above all it is a crucible - because it is large enough to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/new-york-is-large-glamorous-easy-going-kindly-and-incurious-but-above/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Sometimes life can suck and not be fair ,but we have to deal with it,because we feel we cant do anything but,we can.We have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-life-can-suck-and-not-be-fair-but-we-have-to-deal-with-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mortals are such fragile things. Just tender feelings walking around exposed in their delicate shells...Easy to crush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-marr/mortals-are-such-fragile-things-just-tender-feelings-walking-around/) [Melissa Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-marr/) > [Certainly these are not easy times. But history does not contain very many easy times. Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [I don't know why, but I'm an easy target. And I don't do anything to dispel it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-mcginley/i-don-t-know-why-but-i-m-an-easy-target-and-i-don-t-do-anything-to/) [Ted McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-mcginley/) > [I know that I'm going to have to work hard, keep working hard, and not because of this victory think, "I'm back." I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-clijsters/i-know-that-i-m-going-to-have-to-work-hard-keep-working-hard-and-not/) [Kim Clijsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-clijsters/) > [It's easy to make mistakes. It's living with the consequences of them that's the hardest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/it-s-easy-to-make-mistakes-it-s-living-with-the-consequences-of-them/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) [Browse all 14,306 Easy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial inequality in the U.S. Yet because they are out of sight and out of mind, it is easy to imagine that we are making far more racial progress than we actually are.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Alexander" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-severity-of-racial-inequality/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Easy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-severity-of-racial-inequality/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15c/michelle-alexander-750_easy_prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-s_857480.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial inequality in the U.S. Yet because they are out of…” — 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": "Prisoners do matter when analyzing the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-severity-of-racial-inequality/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-severity-of-racial-inequality/#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 } } ] } ```