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Mass Incarceration

Slavery by Another Name

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Mass Incarceration: A Failed Experiment of Social Control

     Mass incarceration in the United States is not concerned with rehabilitation of the offender; nor is it concerned with their reintegration into society. Mass incarceration is strictly about punishment, retribution, and something very few people want to discuss, social control.

     The main role of the American prison system is divide the law-abiding population (or at least those that have not be caught) from those that are then stigmatized, labeled as disposable. This stigmatized population who are now viewed as disposable, serve as the conduit for all the fear and loathing that this society can muster. One of the problems is that most of this fear and loathing aimed at those in the lower socioeconomic levels that many black and brown men occupy.

     There is an epidemic in the United States that has been alive and well for over forty years, and used as the latest method of controlling marginalized populations. It is mass incarceration. The groups that bear the lopsided weight of this policy are black and brown men. The rate of incarceration for African-American men is six times greater than that of Caucasian men, although Caucasian men are 80% of the male population. In addition, about 25% (1 in 4) African-American high school dropouts is in prison or jail; compared to 7% (1 in 14) of young Caucasian men. This country incarcerates more people and at the highest rates per capita than any country on the planet; and this cannot become a source of national pride.

     Let us make no mistake, those criminal offenders that have committed crimes; especially violent offenders must be held accountable for their crimes. The problem at the center of mass incarceration is that many of those incarcerated have been non-violent offenders. These non-violent offenders have fallen prey to the most unsuccessful social policy experiment in the history of the United States the War on Drugs; which is really a war on people.

     African-Americans are about 13% of the United States population. There is significant research that indicates Caucasians and African-Americans use drugs at about the same rates. Herein is the problem, African-Americans account for about 35% of drug arrests and over 53% of people in prison for a drug conviction. How can this disparity in arrests and convictions of African-Americans for drugs be explained?

     Moreover there are victims of this “war on people” that are rarely discussed; the families and children of those non-violent victims of this war. For children of African-American’s there is a nine times greater risk of a parent being incarcerated for drugs than that of Caucasian children. These young children, regardless of color, experience their own economic, psychological, and social trauma and are also victims of this failed social experiment; the War on Drugs.

     It is time to end this madness.

 

Mass Incarceration Equals Modern Day Slavery

Slavery is not dead. It is alive and well.

Read the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Mass Incarceration is making those caught up in this issue of social justice involuntary slaves of the state for the rest of their lives. Issues of felon disenfranchisement,  must be addressed on a national level; especially and particularly for non-violent offenders.

Is the 14th Amendment No Longer Applicable?

     A big reason that most people do not understand this issue of social justice termed Mass Incarceration, is that they do not have any personal connection to it; and those that do, choose not to discuss it.

    This so-called War on Drugs that was brought to fruition in 1968, when the administration of then President Richard Nixon, decided to dramatically increase the budget allotted to fight a war against the use and sale of illegal drugs in the United States. Thirty-five years later this war has done little to curb the use of drugs and in fact provides indirect impetus for the proliferation of drug cartels.  What would happen to drug cartels if drugs were not legalized but decriminalized?  The cost of drugs would significantly decrease and would dramatically reduce the massive profits recognized by them because the criminalization of drugs drives up the price, demand, and subsequent profits.

     The question must still be asked why is there a disparity between the racial makeup of those incarcerated for drugs when there is much scholarly research that show that White, Black and Brown people use drugs at roughly the same rates.  Research has shown that Whites use marijuana at a five times higher rate that Blacks, and are three time more likely to have ever used crack cocaine.  But incarceration rates show that Blacks make up over 60% of those incarcerated for drugs.  Could this be because the War on Drugs is actually a war on people of color?  Let us not make the mistake that White people are not impacted by this war on people because they are.  There are lives destroyed by this war and the collateral damage inflicted on their families. Those incarcerated are released on parole or probation and they then suffer the stigma of being disenfranchised from society by felon disenfranchisement statutes that restricts their ability to obtain housing, employment, financial aid opportunities (educational), professional licenses, the ability to vote, and the ability to provide for their families.

     Mass Incarceration and subsequent felon disenfranchisement construct a mine field that most individuals cannot navigate. It increased the chance of recidivism, and long term incarceration. 

     All of these issues are the consequences of a system that violates the 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution by not providing equal protection under the law to all people.

Please read the book, The New Jim Crowe by Michelle Alexander

Please take a look at the link below….This book is a must read for everyone interested in social justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikuV1DMzehk

The Mass Hypnosis of Mass Incarceration

The presidential elections are almost upon us. It is time for every one of all racial groups, ethnicities and cultures to wake up from our state of mass hypnosis about the issue of MASS INCARCERATION and its impact on many collateral issues including the economy and public safety.

It is a topic that no one appears to want to discuss; but it is a topic that must not just be discussed, but must become the base of a social and civil rights movement in the new millennium.

Why is no one, including President Obama talking about it?

Our president just stated within the last several days that the United States would not go the course of legalizing drugs.  But the so-called War on Drugs, which was a huge social experiment; has been the biggest failure in the history of this country.  The author also agrees that legalization of drugs is not the short or long-term solution; but this so-called war which has criminalized what was a health issue is also not the solution.

Why are we stigmatizing what has now become two generations of people?  The rate of incarceration in the United States is now over 2.4 million people.  The United States is now incarcerating more people than any nation on earth.  In addition, there are more African-Americans incarcerated in the United States than South Africa incarcerated at the height of Apartheid.

Where are our religious leaders and political leaders that must begin to discuss this issue of social justice?

There are many collateral issues important to all citizens that this issue impacts.