--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: there is no inconsistency whatsoever…" description: "\"“there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land and the existence of a racial caste system..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_there-is-no-inconsistency-whatsoever-bet_155942.png" --- # there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the election… ![“there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land and the existence of a racial caste system in the era of colorblindness. The current system of control depends on black exceptionalism; it is not disproved or undermined by it.” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_there-is-no-inconsistency-whatsoever-bet_155942.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_there-is-no-inconsistency-whatsoever-bet_155942.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/michelle-alexander-750_caste-system_there-is-no-inconsistency-whatsoever-bet_155942.png) > ““there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land and the existence of a racial caste system in the era of colorblindness. The current system of control depends on black exceptionalism; it is not disproved or undermined by it.”” [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. The election of a Black president coexists with systemic racism, showing that representation does not eliminate deep‑rooted inequality. **In simple terms:** Obama’s election doesn’t end racial caste. Key Takeaway Address systemic racism beyond symbolic wins. Themes race politics systemic inequality representation social justice Mood critical determined Type analytical activist When to use this quote - policy reform - community activism - education - media analysis Key Concepts sociology political science critical theory Questions to Reflect On - How can we measure real progress? - What actions dismantle systemic bias? A Different Perspective Symbolic victories can mask ongoing oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caste system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caste-system/) ## Related quotes > [The success of the few does not excuse the caste-like system that exists for many. In fact, black exceptionalism - the high-profile, highly visible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-success-of-the-few-does-not-excuse-the-caste-like-system-that/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Everyone in the street where I grew up was given the same message: You can be anything; you can do anything. That wasn't extraordinary;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yance-ford/everyone-in-the-street-where-i-grew-up-was-given-the-same-message-you/) [Yance Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yance-ford/) > [“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/) > [“The general public typically traces the death of Jim Crow to Brown v. Board of Education, although the institution was showing signs of weakness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-general-public-typically-traces-the-death-of-jim-crow-to-brown-v/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [A new race-neutral language was developed for appealing to old racist sentiments, a language accompanied by a political movement that succeeded in putting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/a-new-race-neutral-language-was-developed-for-appealing-to-old-racist/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [I do believe that something akin to a racial caste system is alive and well in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/i-do-believe-that-something-akin-to-a-racial-caste-system-is-alive/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“History seemed to repeat itself. Just as the white elite had successfully driven a wedge between poor whites and blacks following Bacon's Rebellion by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/history-seemed-to-repeat-itself-just-as-the-white-elite-had/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Historians will likely wonder how we could describe the new caste system as a system of crime control, when it is difficult to imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/historians-will-likely-wonder-how-we-could-describe-the-new-caste/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“What this book intended to do - the only thing it is intended to do - is to stimulate a much-needed conversation about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/what-this-book-intended-to-do-the-only-thing-it-is-intended-to-do-is/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“No task is more urgent for racial justice advocates today than ensuring that America’s current racial caste system is its last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/no-task-is-more-urgent-for-racial-justice-advocates-today-than/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“While the Reconstruction Era was fraught with corruption and arguably doomed by the lack of land reform, the sweeping economic and political developments in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/while-the-reconstruction-era-was-fraught-with-corruption-and-arguably/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Arguably the most important parallel between mass incarceration and Jim Crow is that both have served to define the meaning and significance of race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/arguably-the-most-important-parallel-between-mass-incarceration-and/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“The impact of the new caste system is most tragically felt among the young. In Chicago (as in other cities across the United States),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-impact-of-the-new-caste-system-is-most-tragically-felt-among-the/) [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 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/) ## 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 Caste system quotes > [Class - or the economic status of individuals - is evident in all societies, some very well stratified by a rigid caste system determined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/class-or-the-economic-status-of-individuals-is-evident-in-all/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [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/) > [Many immigrants do not talk about what they endured back home. They were fleeing that world, and when they left they didn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-immigrants-do-not-talk-about-what-they-endured-back-home-they/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“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 impact of the new caste system is most tragically felt among the young. In Chicago (as in other cities across the United States),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-impact-of-the-new-caste-system-is-most-tragically-felt-among-the/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“B.R. Ambedkar believed the tale was not so much about Ram’s character as it was about the unsustainability of the caste system that needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devdutt-pattanaik/b-r-ambedkar-believed-the-tale-was-not-so-much-about-ram-s-character/) [Devdutt Pattanaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devdutt-pattanaik/) > [Arguably the most important parallel between mass incarceration and Jim Crow is that both have served to define the meaning and significance of race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/arguably-the-most-important-parallel-between-mass-incarceration-and/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“While the Reconstruction Era was fraught with corruption and arguably doomed by the lack of land reform, the sweeping economic and political developments in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/while-the-reconstruction-era-was-fraught-with-corruption-and-arguably/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cahill/two-men-went-up-into-the-temple-to-pray-the-one-a-pharisee-and-the/) [Mark Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cahill/) > [Comics have a caste system - an editor has to act in a certain way, an artist has to be humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kirby/comics-have-a-caste-system-an-editor-has-to-act-in-a-certain-way-an/) [Jack Kirby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kirby/) > [The West remains obsessed by the caste system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-gautier/the-west-remains-obsessed-by-the-caste-system/) [Francois Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-gautier/) > [“The origin of the caste system, formulated by the great legislator Manu, was admirable. He saw clearly that men are distinguished by natural evolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/the-origin-of-the-caste-system-formulated-by-the-great-legislator/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [Because of the caste system, because of the fact that there is no social link between those who make the decisions and those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/because-of-the-caste-system-because-of-the-fact-that-there-is-no/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“You do not win by struggling to the top of a caste system, you win by refusing to be trapped within one at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-do-not-win-by-struggling-to-the-top-of-a-caste-system-you-win-by/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [There are caste systems in American cities: Many are marginalized to the edges of urban centers due to real estate costs; price tags seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/there-are-caste-systems-in-american-cities-many-are-marginalized-to/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) [Browse all 100 Caste system quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caste-system/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land and the existence of a racial caste system in the era of colorblindness. 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