“Most new prison construction has occurred in predominately white, rural communities, and thus a new and bizarre form of segregation has emerged in recent years. Ghetto youth are transferred from their decrepit, underfunded, racially segregated schools to brand-new high-tech prisons located in white rural counties.”

American writer, attorney, and civil rights activist

Michelle Alexander is an American writer, attorney, and civil rights activist, best known for her 2010 book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Her work centers on race, criminal justice, and the lasting effects of mass incarceration in the United States. Since 2018, she has also written as an opinion columnist for The New York Times, extending that critique into public commentary and debate.