In the Heart of the Heart of Darkness: A Look at the Prison Pipeline & Minorities

Not too long ago, I attended a conference in which one of the panelists related a story that to me was more horrifying than any slasher movie. A child in kindergarten class was asked to draw a picture showing how he saw himself in the future. It’s an innocent enough exercise, one I am sure is given in kindergarten classes across the nation. The child drew an elaborate diagram. In it he drew his school. From his school, he drew a tunnel that wound its way through a rather sophisticated landscape. That tunnel led to a prison.

Now, the teacher was horrified. She called in her superiors, who called the parents, and so on. When asked why he would draw such a picture, he responded in the typical honesty only children can muster. He said he drew it because it was true.

And he’s right...

The spectacle of conservatives pontificating about morals has become a bad joke. For example, watching that morally-challenged fool, William Bennett, on CNN spinning a report on the US prison population is the height of hypocrisy (or at least it was back then). As a society, we incarcerate more people than any other nation in the world. We have 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prison population. There are currently 2.3 million men and women behind bars in the USA right now. Add to that the 5 million on probation and parole and you have an epidemic.

The vast majority of those in prison are young people of color. You might say that this is so because people of color are more prone to crime, but you would be wrong. Reams of studies, such as those published by the Sentencing Project, have shown that, all other factors controlled, a black youth is 1.5 times more likely to be sentenced to prison than his white peer -- even when the crime and criminal histories are the same.

You might say that, hey, prison is fucked up, but we need to lock up criminals in order to stem the tidal wave of crime. Again, you would be wrong. There is no correlation between incarceration and crime rates. In fact, New York City’s record crime drops occurred during a decade in which the prison population was decreasing.

You might say that the collateral damage inflicted on these individuals is justified if it keeps dangerous criminals off the street and again, you would be wrong. The majority of those currently incarcerated are non-violent, first time offenders -- often low level drug dealers with drug histories. Our criminal justice system is so overburdened, that if everyone currently fighting a case would choose to go to trial, the system would implode. As a result, plea-bargaining -- giving up the right to a fair trial in exchange for a more lenient sentence -- is the norm rather than the exception. In other words, the vast majority or people in prison didn’t even have the benefit of a fair trail.

Finally, you might not give a fuck because you think this doesn’t affect you, but, again you would be wrong. Where do you think our government gets the money to build and maintain these prisons?

Nelson Mandela: Whose Hero Is He?

February 11th marked the twentieth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from Robin Island.   Twitter was filled with his quotes and praise for what a wonderful forgiving soul that he is.  In his lifetime Mandela has been transformed from a simple man, to a near God like figure who we consider to be above question.  

His fight against apartheid and wrongful imprisonment has sparked hope in millions of people.  The mythos surrounding Mandela is such that to question any of his actions is not permissible. That he is a man, and therefore subject to the very same imperfections as every other mortal is denied in order to cement his heavenly martyr status. We are desperate to hold on to the lie that racism has been defeated and Mandela is a major key to this social myth.

Since his release from prison, South Africa has largely been governed by Blacks and a Black bourgeoisie has risen to take its place at the table.  The fact that a few have been allowed to rise is offered as proof that the evils of apartheid have been defeated and that the country has indeed begun to heal from generations of race based violence. 

Mandela preaches forgiveness and he has been praised globally for not holding onto hatred in his heart.   Turn the other cheek has always made Whiteness comfortable because it is well aware of the heinous nature of its crimes against the coloured peoples of this world.  Even those that would fight for equality fear the righteous retribution of Black rage and therefore; a figure like Mandela is comforting.

Jesus was racist. No, not the Mexican dude; the guy who wore sandals, and hung out with whores and other societal derelicts

Uh huh, yeah, I know this is going to be hard for some of you to process; yes, I know it is especially after you see this video at the end [ hat-tip to macon d at Stuff White People Do]. If anything, it (the video at the end) should motivate you to re-think the parable of the "Good Samaritan". After all, he (Jesus) did tell this story to these Jewish folks, and look at what they did to Cynthia McKinney when she attempted to bring aid to Palestinians over a week ago.

Yeah, they finally released her after sitting in jail for 7 days, and ironically there was little press coverage surrounding the story. But I guess that's to be expected coming from the same people who pretty much disowned him. That thing religion sure is hypocritical funny isn't it? Just ask the Jewish guy in the pic above. Hopefully today for the sake of the message in the parable Christians are not like, well, you know who.

[You can click here to read about the above image on this post]