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 AlexanderRead
During the Jim Crow era, poll taxes and literacy tests kept the African-Americans from polls. But today, felon disenfranchisement laws accomplished what poll taxes and literacy tests ultimately could not, because those laws were struck down. But felony disenfranchisement laws had been allowed to stand.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how modern laws can perpetuate disenfranchisement and inequality, similar to historical discriminatory practices.
Michelle Alexander's quote draws a parallel between the Jim Crow era's tactics of poll taxes and literacy tests aimed at excluding African-Americans from voting, and today's felony disenfranchisement laws which continue to restrict their voting rights. She points out that while the overtly discriminatory practices of the past have been abolished, new forms of systemic disenfranchisement still exist, functioning as a modern-day equivalent to suppress voices and maintain inequality in the political sphere.
Themes
DisenfranchisementJusticeEqualityVotingSystemic Racism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about voting rights reforms.
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