Top-quality public education, universal health care, and free child care are among the many benefits provided by the state in Norway, reflecting its long-standing egalitarian culture and spirit of communitarianism – a spirit that extends to its prisons. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
In the ‘era of colorblindness,’ there’s a nearly fanatical desire to cling to the myth that we, as a nation, have ‘moved beyond’ race. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
The cyclical rebirth of caste in America is a recurring racial nightmare. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Discrimination in virtually every aspect of political, economic, and social life is now perfectly legal if you’ve been labeled a felon. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
The uncomfortable reality we must face is that California, like the nation as a whole, has treated generations of African Americans and Latinos as largely disposable. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas, like Chicago, have been labeled felons for life. These men are part of a growing undercaste – not class, caste – a group of people who are permanently relegated, by law, to an inferior second-class status. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
Private landlords as well as public landlords are free to discriminate against people with criminal records for the rest of their lives. You come out of prison, and where are you expected to go? Michelle Alexander Read Quote
It doesn’t matter if that felony happened three weeks ago or thirty-five years ago – for the rest of your life, you’ve got to check that box, knowing full well the odds are sky-high your application is going straight to the trash. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
In 2004, there were more black men disenfranchised than in 1870 – the year the 15th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting laws that deny the right to vote exclusively on the basis of race. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
People have a false understanding of what our legal system is like – how it works/operates – from shows like ‘Law and Order,’ which suggest that lawyers appear on demand and do a tremendous amount of investigation and background research. Michelle Alexander Read Quote
