Prisons marginalize African Americans

By Karl Cassell

----

There remains a very important dilemma facing the African American community in this country today. For one community of people does not operate independent of fellow citizens.

For what was once a system that exploited African Americans through slavery, and then created subordination during the Jim Crow era, has now been defined by a system of marginalization through mass incarceration. The concern becomes serious when you consider that with extreme marginalization, extermination becomes a risk to any ethnic group. According to incarceration statistics, the United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country, including Russia and China.

When we explore the last 30 years of criminal incarcerations in America, we see an unfortunate trend toward criminalizing even the smallest behaviors. We also see a tremendous growth in the prison population during this time, despite a decrease in violent crime.

Studies show that drug markets reflect American society along racial and socioeconomic boundaries, with whites selling to whites, blacks to blacks, university students to one another and so on.

Let's face it, rural whites don't travel to the inner city to purchase drugs. They get it from a neighbor down the road. In the same vein, white high school students buy from classmates, friends, or older relatives.

Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that in seven states, African Americans constitute 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported in 2000 that white youth aged 12-17 are more than one-third more likely to have sold illegal drugs than African American youth. Drug trafficking occurs everywhere in America, so to only concentrate policing in the low-income or minority communities is either lazy or profiling.

There are nearly 7.3 million people in this country under correctional control, with only 1.6 million actually in prison. The system of correctional control extends and maintains its control outside of the prison facility.

When a person gets a divorce and checks the box labeled “divorced” on forms they complete, when is the appropriate time to begin checking the “single” box again? Once imprisoned, time served and released, how long before this free American gets to remove this “scarlet letter” of shame? The across-the-board extinguishment of basic human rights is not conducive to a democratic society.

Parole and probation violations have contributed to the increase in prison admissions, and the war on drugs plays a large role. In 1980, one percent of prison admissions were parole violators; by 2000, 35 percent of all admissions resulted from parole violations. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that about 30 percent of released prisoners in its sample were rearrested within six months of release. Within three years, nearly 68 percent were rearrested at least once for a new offense.

So, in addition to criminalizing more and more small behaviors, there are few or no alternatives when people are released from the criminal justice system. When time has been served, a debt repaid, there should be real solutions to employment, housing and the ability to contribute to society.

Eliminating mandatory minimums would allow each case to be judged on its own merit. Create the means for re-entry into society and not penalize for life those who have committed errors and now want to live a productive life.

For non-violent offenses, these Americans who have paid their penalty would now acquire voting rights, the ability to gain employment, and adequate housing, which would help create economic incentives for their place of residency. Most important, these individuals will develop pride and ownership and continue to be a pillar in the community and an example of redemption, which is the American way.

Karl Cassell is executive director of the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission. Comments: K.Cassell@cedar-rapids.org