We live in a society of an imposed forgetfulness, a society that depends on public amnesia.
Angela DavisRead
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of our social problems.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Imprisonment is often the first choice for addressing societal challenges instead of seeking alternative solutions.
Angela Davis highlights the tendency of society to resort to incarceration as the primary means of addressing social issues rather than exploring rehabilitation or preventative measures. This perspective invites us to reconsider our criminal justice system and the effectiveness of imprisonment in resolving deeper social problems.
Themes
ImprisonmentSocial ProblemsJusticeRehabilitationSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel on criminal justice reform, one could use this quote to emphasize the need for alternative solutions to societal issues.
More from Angela Davis
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Racism is a much more clandestine, much more hidden kind of phenomenon, but at the same time it's perhaps far more terrible than it's ever been.
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It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it's not going to solve the problems
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Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'
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When children attend schools that place a greater value on discipline and security than on knowledge and intellectual development, they are attending prep schools for prison.
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