Prison is human storage, but worse because prisons attempt to strip away the dignity of those incarcerated. Look at the school-to-prison pipeline paradigm, mandatory minimum sentencing, crack/cocaine sentencing discrepancies, or the myriad of intended and unintended consequences from the “War of Drugs” and the “Get Tough on Crime” movements. But what is more alarming after the gavel drops and the cells lock is the treatment of people AFTER they’ve served time. Upon release, many people remain marginalized and far-removed from accessing their most pertinent needs. Formerly incarcerated persons don an “F” as a scarlet letter restricting them from public housing, employment, voting, and much more.
Just imagine after serving 10 years for a non-violent offense, you return to your hometown to live with family, but you cannot return to your mother’s apartment because she can be evicted for housing a convicted felon. The city has changed rapidly; meanwhile, employers dismiss your application because you are a convicted felon. What options do you have just 24 hours out of prison?
Here are a few statistics to ponder:
– The U.S. boasts the highest rate of incarceration among developed nations, surpassing Russia, France, Brazil, and China.
– There were about 1.8 million under correctional supervision (prison, jail, parole, or probation) in 1980. By 2010, the number has increased to 7.1 million.
– 1 in 3 African-American men and 1 in 6 Latino men face the likelihood of imprisonment
– At least 60 percent of people in U.S. prisons are people of color
The “War on Drugs” has been a war on the poor, black, and brown and with the incessant stigma of a jail record, people are faced with legitimized discrimination. The War on Drugs has had a four decade-long field day with imprisoning non-violent offenders. The subsequent policies have strangled the life-blood of so many communities.
I am not too far-removed from the realities facing African-American males. The criminal justice system does not exactly guarantee justice for people who look like me. As Richard Pryor once joked, “If you’re looking for justice, that’s just what you’ll find — just us.”
Attention must be paid to reduce crime and subsequent incarceration, ensure the human rights of those imprisoned, and support people upon their release. We have arrived at a crucial point. We blindly support harsh drug laws and have become ignorant of the toils of former offenders. We assume that physical re-entry into the general population equates full re-entry but, no, the chain remains.
Read “The Chain Remains” (Pt. II) by Maria Jose Aldana!
“The Chain Remains”- Naughty By Nature