This grabs the attention of his readers by giving them a sense of hope. When Gopnik uses Michelle Alexander's quote "The system of mass incarceration works to trap African Americans in a virtual (and literal) cage world," he is saying that "blacks are now incarcerated seven times more often than whites." He claims mass incarceration is another way to control black people. This leaves his readers shocked to realize that slavery is happening again, but in an invisible way that people would not realize so easily. Using his logical ideas, Gopnik is saying that mass incarceration has nothing to do with