QuoteProject
The USA has more people in prison that any other country, including countries with much larger populations. 13% of the population is black but 80% of the people in prison are black, mostly for soft crimes.
Harry Belafonte
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote highlights the racial disparities in the incarceration rates in the USA.

Harry Belafonte's quote draws attention to the stark and troubling reality of racial inequality in the American prison system. It emphasizes that while black individuals make up a relatively small percentage of the population, they are disproportionately represented in prisons, often due to non-violent offenses. This statistic raises critical questions about systemic racism and the impact of socio-economic factors on crime and punishment.

Themes

PrisonRacial DisparityIncarcerationJusticeInequality

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech on racial equality, one might quote this to highlight systemic injustices in the legal system.

More from Harry Belafonte

In the gun game, we are the most hunted. The river of blood that washes the streets of our nation flows mostly from the bodies of our black children.
Harry BelafonteRead
Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s anchor. We are the compass for humanity’s conscience.
Harry BelafonteRead
You can cage the singer but not the song.
Harry BelafonteRead
I've always been supportive of the right of Israel as a state, and I've always fought against anti-Semitism, even in my own community.
Harry BelafonteRead
Art in its highest form is art that serves and instructs society and human development.
Harry BelafonteRead
Anti-democracy...is a virus that exists, and pro-democracy is the antibody to that virus, and I think we have to become vigilant, and we have to stay on top of the issues of democracy and freedom.
Harry BelafonteRead

Similar quotes

The March on Washington was a March for Jobs and Freedom. There are still too many people who are unemployed or underemployed in America - they're black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American.
John LewisRead
It is devastating that jail is seen as a rite of passage for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, part of the natural order of things. It is an outrage that there is an attitude that this is normal. This is not normal. We can't shrug our shoulders and say this is just a 'fact of life' in remote Australia.
Bill ShortenRead
I am only a mouthpiece through which to tell the story of lynching and I have told it so often that I know it by heart. I do not have to embellish; it makes its own way.
Ida B. WellsRead
Growth is essential and must be sustained. But rapid growth alone cannot address the problems arising out of continuing disparities. Tackling these is not just a matter of social justice but, more importantly, an existential necessity and a moral imperative.
Sonia GandhiRead
In a nation growing increasingly more diverse, it is imperative that the organizations tasked with keeping us informed reflect the same diversity.
Marcia FudgeRead
Part of what our problem as blacks in America is that we don't claim that. Partly, you see, because of the linguistic environment in which we live.
August WilsonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.