Oregon Mirrors Country in National Oppression Statistics

I was reading an article I would like to bring to your attention, titled "Facing Race in Oregon," it was printed in Justice Matters, published by Partnership for Safety and Justice, out of Portland, Oregon.

As of 2010, whites in Oregon made up 78.5% of the state population, while "people of color" made up 21.5%. (The article uses the term "people of color.") Whites are 72.5% of the prison population. Oregon's population is 2% Black, but Blacks are 9.6% of the prison population. Oregon's population is 11% Latino while they are 14% of the prison population. Oregon's general population is 1.6% Native American, Native Americans are 2.4% of the prison population. Oregon's general population is 3.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, with this group comprises 1.4% of the prison population.

The imperialist pigs gave out a 2011 report card, a legislative report card on racial equality. The Senate received a "C" while the House received a "D" (great grades from our supposed leaders eh?) These grades alone show that racial "equality" isn't a matter these swine politicians care about. (The entire whack report can be found at the website for the Partnership for Safety and Justice. But it's useless to read because it amounts to imperial pigs wasting $ on stupid reports instead of solving problems.)

The supposed "justice" system clearly shows it's practice of disproportionate and biased policies on "people of color," by the fact that, despite having one of the smallest Black populations in the country, Oregon ranks 13th highest in the country for Blacks in prison per capita. And Blacks are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated in Oregon than whites. But here's the kicker, national research proves that crime rates as a whole show there is no difference among racial groups in regard to likelihood to commit crime. So obviously race plays a factor in who Oregon decides to send to prison.

And check this out, Oregon has a whack law called Measure 11 (it's some mandatory minimum bullshit) and it requires youth of the age of 15 and older to be automatically prosecuted as adults as soon as they are charged. And when they are convicted it's mandatory they serve the same sentence that applies to adults. And guess what, of the 36 percent of youth who are victims of this Measure 11 crap, 25% of them are "youth of color." While Black youth make up only 4 percent of Oregon's general population, 34% of all juveniles who are female measure 11 indictments are Black girls!

Point is this, numbers sure don't lie. And the corrupt swindlers and leaders of Oregon seem to enjoy putting "people of color" (as they term nonwhites) to work in their prison factories to keep the money rolling into their greedy pockets. And the sad thing is, inmates do the labor for these pigs and shuffle to the "cotton fields" like mindless cattle.

That's why MIM is vital! Because it educates the people. That's why I cherish each of your newsletters and share them with everyone who can read, and wants to, and why I read it to the ones who can't or don't want to.

MIM(Prisons) responds: It is a common misperception that prisoners who work play a role in enriching their captors in this country, and even that such labor is there are so many prisons. Like the prison system itself, prison labor is more about oppression (largely national oppression as this author points out) than making money. As we explained in an article on The U.$. Prison Economy, prisoners who work are helping to offset some of the cost of imprisonment, at best. Prisons are a very expensive system of social control for the imperialists. The people who get jobs in the criminal injustice system certainly are benefiting from it, but the money mostly comes from the government, not from prisoner labor.