We live in a society of an imposed forgetfulness, a society that depends on public amnesia.
Angela DavisRead
Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Prisons remove individuals from society rather than addressing the root causes of social problems.
Angela Davis highlights the flawed approach of using prisons to deal with complex social issues such as homelessness, unemployment, and addiction. By isolating individuals in cages, society ignores the underlying problems that lead to these issues, suggesting that true solutions require addressing the social conditions rather than simply removing those affected from view.
Themes
PrisonSocial ProblemsHomelessnessAddictionMental Illness
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting about criminal justice reform.
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Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of our social problems.
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Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'
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