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 racial inequality is something we don’t have to think about anymore, don’t have to worry about anymore. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Public housing officials are free to discriminate against you on the basis of criminal records, including arrest records. And so, you know, what you find is that even for these extremely minor offenses, people find themselves trapped in a permanent second-class status and struggling to survive. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
After the end of slavery, African-American men were arrested in mass, and they were arrested for extremely minor crimes like loitering, standing around, vagrancy, or the equivalent of jaywalking – arrested and then sent to prison and then leased to plantations. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Slavery by Another Name’ is an important book that I think all Americans should read, about how, following the end of slavery, a new system of racial and social control was born, known as ‘convict leasing.’ Michelle Alexander Read Quote
I am a criminal. Coming to terms with this aspect of my identity has helped me to see more clearly – with blinders off – the ways in which I have been encouraged not to feel any connection to ‘them,’ those labeled criminals. I see now that ‘they’ are me, and I am them. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
In this country, we force millions of people – who are largely black and brown – into a permanent second-class status simply because they once committed a crime. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Black men with criminal records are the most severely disadvantaged group in the labor market. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Our criminal-justice system has for decades been infected with a mindset that views black boys and men in particular as a problem to be dealt with, managed, and controlled. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Mandatory minimum sentences give no discretion to judges about the amount of time that the person should receive once a guilty verdict is rendered. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
People are swept into the criminal justice system – particularly in poor communities of color – at very early ages… typically for fairly minor, nonviolent crimes. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
