Pros And Cons Of Mass Incarceration

Mass Incarceration is based off of the dissemination and separation of citizens of color from their families and steady profit off the labor of inmates. This organized system was created to profit the government and low lying companies, targeting ethnic groups based off poverty levels and color. This system is prominent, mass incarceration was deprived off of slavery, it also criminalizes colored people and limits resources and availability of jobs, food stamps, and housing.The economic dependability of mass incarceration plays a big part in how America views it as probable, it continuously provides a steady net income and production of products that are sold everyday in the market. It’s a private business that is funded and legalized by government
officials; the government creates laws that specify arrest based on color and economic income levels. Supporting a corrupt system that falsely arrests innocent people regularly without any justice.
The historical context of inmates first started with the return of slaves who had been captured and returned back into the South; even if they had successfully escaped they were still prone to returning to slavery. “Slave Catchers” were those who were hired by masters of plantations or they had the belief that African Americans should be property and shouldn’t have the same liberties as white people.
The slave catchers would often be paid a significant amount of money if they had successfully returned slaves into the south. When Abraham Lincoln created the thirteenth amendment; White slave owners recognized their disadvantage because the slaves fueled their economy. The South depended solely on their production of cotton and tobacco. With this economic disadvantage, the government created other ways to “legalize” slavery. Programs like the Homestead Act and the Land Grant Act were created to limit accessibility for African Americans as a result White landowners allowed African Americans to farm their land. Even after Abraham Lincoln created the 13th Amendment, slaves weren’t informed that they were free as a result African Americans remained in harsh environments. During the Civil Rights movement “conservatives” that were in the government created a system that morphed around “civil disobedience” that was presented by Martin Luther King and linked his philosophies to crime, according to Alexander (2015, p. 40-41).
Also at this time African Americans were being arrested at exponential rates for negligible crimes; children and adults were being jailed and forced to labor; Alexander (2015) explained that the surge in incarcerations of colored men was a result of “unemployment rates for black men were rising sharply” (p. 41). Since white slave owners were legalized by the government; they were allowed to commit crimes and continue to legally enslave African Americans and the government accepted it. These two systems(Acts and small crimes) were gateways to the modernized jailing of colored people; predominantly white officials based systems off the criminalization of colored people. In modern America, African American males are jailed and targeted by police officers; Kalief Browder’s story shows the social breakdown and the government's lack to protect African Americans from the brutality that jailers face, and the false accusations that African Americans face. Kalief Browder’s existence was ignored and the judicial system failed to protect him from other inmates, while he also suffered abuse from guards. Causing him to experience a mental and social disintegration leading to his suicide in 2015.
Continuous statistical and video evidence suggests that men of color are more prone to be arrested for serious and petty crimes; and often falsely criminalized.
The judicial system automatically labels them as “criminals”, this title gives the perception that those individuals are barbaric and pose a serious threat to the safety of other individuals. Though some of them are, a large number of them are often given harsh sentences that sometimes weigh more than someone who has committed murder. The judicial system is setup to fail those that “fall victim to the system”, when an inmate is released from a lengthy sentence or false charges; there are no programs present to show them how to survive or provide them with housing. It’s also difficult for them to financially support themselves or their family because; on job applications inmates who have been charged with a felon are required to identify that on job applications. With this classification they are less likely to receive the job or are put in positions that don’t support them well; as a result they may revert back to their illegal activities. Unwarranted arrest and sentencing also result in an emotional and social distress to family members and friends; which cause them to act erratically, producing other generations that will violent or participate in illegal activities, resulting in the continuous cycle of incarceration. Coates(2015) describes the absence of a father as leading to “behavior problems, aggression, and
later criminality among boys” (p.1 ). As said by Afeni Shakur “they will give you the tools to destroy yourself”, for example the War on drugs was an attack on the Black and Latino communities; at that time America was in it’s worst economic standpoint as a result the rise of crack cocaine use and sells were on the rise, resulting in the exponential rise in the arrest of African American and Latino males. Alexander (2015) described the justice system as morphing into a “new racial caste system”(p. 11). All these components were an attack on the colored communities by the government; false imprisonment, excessive bail, and lack of education on individual laws has caused a high population in jails.
Mass Incarceration has decreased the availability in jails; the high population of inmates has resulted in private prisons. Private prisons can manufacture and produce goods based off the labor of inmates, many believe that this system resembles slavery. These private prisons can be controlled by companies and gain profit legally; these prisons are being produced as a result of the overpopulation of other prisons. In the 13th, a documentary created by Avu DuVernay she shed light on the contributions of inmates in private prisons; for example they create things like furniture, and fresh produce like potatoes. In modern America today, they contribute to the wealth of private prison owners; with the recent election of Donald Trump the stock for “correctional conglomerates were among the best performing on the New York stock exchange” as said by Porter (2017, p.1). Private prisons will support the rich and continue to destroy the communities of the impoverished.
In the years to come I hope that people of color will receive proper sentences or will be accepted as by society, and be recognized for their existence as human beings in America. Mass Incarceration is a cruel punishment that treats inmates as slaves and places them in horrible crowded conditions. Hopefully in the future, private prisons will be banned and prohibited for the betterment on the inmates. In the future I hope that police brutality and the systematic oppression of colored people will be eliminated.