MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
I’m scribing this missive out of solidarity and admiration for all the
comrades participating in the
hunger
strike in California, Georgia, Ohio and abroad. Thinking of this
brings me back to a book I’ve scrutinized in my captivation recently
titled Ten Men Dead by David Beresford. It’s about the Irish
Republican Army’s (IRA) organized hunger strikes, pig assassinations,
and overall solidarity of the politically conscious convicts confined in
the infamous Long Kesh prison in Belfast. These brothaz (I say brothaz
despite ethnicity because we’re all “born” from the same struggle)
struggled to overcome oppression, implement justice, and overcome
oppression toward for freedom. These comrades were willing to fast until
death if demands were not met by the tyrants who oversaw them. They also
had political support on the outside.
I see the same thing transpiring in California as you read this. I’m
intrigued and am in constant awe at the consciousness that permeates
from that SHU battle which pivots on the anticipation of that “moment of
truth” - the immediate prospect of death. The build-up to that moment is
marked by the two sides to the dispute maneuvering to heighten the
psychological pressure on the other. And the groundwork for this was
carefully laid for this feat of courage I read about in MIM(Prisons)’s
ULK.
My plantation has no solidarity amongst us. If you try to manufacture
some you’re put in long term administrative segregation (Ad-Seg) on
solitary confinement for up to a year, due to safety and security being
breached or a panya (rat) wanting you out the way before you get h
privileges taken. I write this from Ad-Seg. Currently I’m a lone soldier
in this struggle but as Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork and
commanding officer of the IRA said in a political essay, “A man who will
be brave only if tromping with a legion will fail in courage if called
to stand in the breach alone.”
Comrades don’t give up, fight on, our day is near. The weight of the
people will soon crumble this paper tiger. You have my support. Shout
out to my Gaidis confined in these gulags. Keep yo face up and chest
out.
MIM(Prisons) responds: It is true that the hunger strike in
California required much work to build unity and organization before the
action. But those comrades in other states who complain that there is no
unity should not be thinking that California is so very different and
united. It is only through hard work and organizing and educating about
common goals that any unity can be built. Across the country this kind
of work is punished with solitary confinement by the prison
administrators because they know that we are effective. It’s often hard,
slow work, but it’s the only way we can build a united front and take
the fight against the criminal injustice system beyond words and into
actions.
While Israel/Netanyahu proclaim that Iran has, or is developing, a
nuclear arsenal and that nuclear research by Iran can be dangerous for
peace in the Middle East, Israel continues to stockpile nuclear weapons
freely, without any restriction or limit from the international
community; the same as the U$A! So why is Israel allowed to develop all
kinds of nuclear arsenal and weapons of mass destruction, as is the
United $tates, but Iran is not allowed to have any kind of nuclear
research, not even for peaceful purposes, such as energy? Is Israel less
aggressive and less war-waging than Iran? Is the U$A less war waging
than Iran? Are the U$A and Israel more democratic and just than Iran or
Syria or Iraq or Afghanistan?
It looks like democracy, to the U$A, is in the eye of the beholder! To
the imperialists, democracy means providing for the elite, the top
aristocracy and their lackeys, but not for the oppressed and exploited
of the world. This is part of the principal contradiction in imperialist
society. It is selfish and cannot see democracy from the vantage of the
oppressed nations and the Third World nations!
So Israel can have nuclear warheads, pointing toward Iran, Syria, or any
Arab-Muslim country that they claim threatens Israel, but none of those
countries can have nuclear research, even if it is for peaceful purposes
like generating electricity. With this kind of provocation, Israel is
ushering the Arab-Muslim countries to war; but that might be unfortunate
for Israel!
MIM(Prisons) responds: This is a good point about imperialist
double standards that we need to hammer home each time we see examples
of it. The imperialists define who they want to label “terrorists” while
they run around the world committing real acts of terror: mass murder,
widespread destruction, and environmental devastation. It is the
imperialists who will be the cause of the end of humyn life on earth if
we do not come together with the oppressed of the world to put an end to
imperialist terror.
Today, the United $tates threatened to trigger conflict with Iran when
one of its unmanned drones allegedly lost control and flew into Iranian
air space.(1) If it was Iran’s drone that had flown over the United
$tates, we would again see the double standard at play. Last month the
Amerikans made unlikely accusations against Iran’s Qods force that it
plotted a terrorist attack in Washington DC with the Mexican drug
cartel, Zeta. Amerikan politicians attack the Third World as
“terrorists” and the internal semi-colonies as “gangs.” While they tell
fantastic
stories(2) to link foreign terrorists with North American gangs, we
work with lumpen in the United $tates to develop in a united front with
the struggle of Third World peoples to end oppression and exploitation.
Many people join the anti-imperialist movement out of persynal reasons
(for instance fighting against the horrible conditions of imprisonment
in Security Housing Units) but we need to broaden our thinking beyond
our persynal struggles and see the connections to the oppressed of the
world if we hope to make real and lasting change.
On November 14, 2011 in 4 building recreational yard, 20+ prisoners
(Brown, Black and white) gathered in an historical moment in the state
of Texas. This gathering consisted of different organizations, and was
the result of the Connally Unit’s continued lack of responsibility:
unsanitized trays in the chow hall
no cleaning supplies for individual cells
lack of nutritious food
medical enslavement
high commissary prices etc.
As a result of this peaceful gathering, we were targeted and
harassed by the units of “gang intelligence,” Ms Gonzalez and 30+
officers, all coming out to the recreational yard and surrounding us as
we sat on the ground discussing our reasons for coming together. The
unit warden also came out but never asked us any questions as to why we
were gathered. I did have a piece of paper stating all the above and
more, that Ms. Gonzalez took from me. Ms Gonzalez questioned me as to
why this gathering was in place and I simply stated that she needed to
read the piece of paper she got from me. But she didn’t believe what was
on it and stated that we were there because we wanted to start a racial
riot. As we sat peacefully with their cameras on us we continued to
discuss some of the concerns prisoners had pertaining to the health and
well being of every individual.
One by one we were stripped and placed back into our cells. The whole
building, which consists of 432 prisoners, got locked down for over 24
hours due to our actions and the administration’s lack of understanding.
Seeds were scattered that day and the growth of these seeds we shall
continue to maintain for a better tomorrow. We have reason to believe
that persistence and dedication will soon give us a beautiful “rose
within the garden.”
I hope that those who read this article familiarize themselves with past
experiences before trying to engage in the same, from the uprisings in
the plantation camps, to the more modern times: the Attica uprising and
Georgia’s historical lockdown December 2010, and the more recent,
Pelican Bay
fasting this year.
Together we can move mountains!
MIM(Prisons) responds: This severe repression in the face of
peaceful protests for modest demands provides a good example of the
importance of building a strong and unified prison movement if we hope
to fight the criminal injustice system. To further build this unity we
are calling on all lumpen organizations to join the United Front for
Peace in Prison. The
Statement
of Principles of the UF includes this first point of Peace, “We
organize to end the needless conflicts and violence within the U.$.
prison environment. The oppressors use divide and conquer strategies so
that we fight each other instead of them. We will stand together and
defend ourselves from oppression.”
Comrades, here is a CDCR regulation that we can use against censorship.
Essentially there are no ban lists. Straight from the California Code of
Regulations:
15 CCR § 3190(i)(2) “Legal Material, including legal reference
material, books, and legal pads not available in the institution
canteen, pursuant to section 3161. There shall be no ‘Approved Vendor
Lists’ for any legal publications. Inmates may receive legal
publications from any publisher, book store or book distributor that
does mail order business.”
15 CCR § 3190(i)(7) “All publications, including books and subscriptions
to periodicals, subject to section 3006. There shall be no”Approved
Vendor Lists” for any publications. Inmates may receive publications
from any publisher, book store or book distributor that does mail order
business.”
MIM(Prisons) responds: This has been official policy since 2008,
yet CDCR staff continue to cite the 2006 ban memo years after a lawsuit
put an
end
to the
ban
on MIM Distributors’s mail in the state of California. Therefore we
find it useful to reprint these rules, for comrades to use in their own
appeals. Remember to forward us any documentation of censorship and
appeals. Many of these facilities have been citing the overturned 2006
memo for years, yet claim it is a mistake when we write them for an
explanation. Establishing these patterns is important in building our
cases. While they’ll never follow the rules all the time, using the law
against them is one tactic for organizing resistance and creating more
space for education to occur. We have put together a supplement to our
Censorship Guide which focuses on the California ban, so write in to get
it if you’re being given this reason for censorship.
by a Pennsylvania prisoner November 2011 permalink
Two Republican judges were convicted in a cash for kids jail time scheme
in Pennsylvannia. In PA this practice goes on each and every work day.
Republicans in the state of Colorado send kids as young as twelve to
adult penitentiaries, keeping them locked up until they’re dead or grow
old. This is a savage system.
Black people receive two and sometimes three times as much time as white
people for committing the same offenses. A Black woman will receive life
or a 20 to 40 year sentence for killing her child. A white woman will
receive probation or 30 months for the same offense. This in itself is a
crime. Black men are automatically charged with rape for any type of
sexual offense. White men are rarely charged with rape for any type of
sexual offense. Wealthy white individuals aren’t charged at all. It
matters not how much money a Black person has, should a Black man get
accused of a sex crime no matter how preposterous, that ass is going to
jail.
Pennsylvania recently sent 1000 prisoners to Michigan in March 2009 and
they came back in May 2011. Pennsylvania also sent 1000 prisoners to
Virginia who have yet to return. They were sent away, not to reduce over
crowding, but for financial reasons. Michigan is hurting for jobs since
most of their business moved out of town. Pennsylvania had 7k prisoners
who had already served their minimum sentences; however, the Parole
Board refused to release them for what they said was non-compliance or
lack of programming. Why didn’t they just release the seven thousand
prisoners who were eligible? Because it’s a business. Pennsylvania
earned $7 million dollars from the phone system in 2010. This
institution earns $5k each day the commissary is open. The Correctional
Industry (laundry) here at SCI-Somerset earns $1 million dollars
annually from outside contracts.
Pennsylvania does not permit prisoners to purchase photographs with or
without nudity. Prisoners are allowed to buy magazines but 6 out of 10
issues will be censored (denied) in order to discourage prisoners from
ordering magazine subscriptions. I have had four publications denied in
a single day. Under Lock and Key was denied October 7, 2011
along with my People Against Racist Terrorism publication, my Human
Rights Coalition magazine and my Black Enterprise magazine on the very
same day. Five or more of my publications are denied each month.
In the course of a single decade Pennsylvania prison numbers have
doubled, not as a result of the crime rate, but due to investors who
receive prime rate of their stock. A score ago, forty-six states harshly
rewrote their criminal sentencing guidelines, doubling and tripling
prison terms for a broad array of crimes. For this reason, our
legislators can now afford to reduce the 100 to 1 powder to crack
cocaine ratio to 18 to 1 because the other charges which are the result
of one initial crime will make up for the loss.
First time offenders are receiving lengthy prison sentences, sometimes
for the skin they’re in. Prosecutors decide who will be charged with
what crime. Insensitive judges determine how much time any given
defendant will receive. One prosecutor told an all white jury “what
makes the defendant dangerous is his race.” Prosecutors mention high
profile cases which have nothing to do with the individual being tried
in order to prejudice the jury against the defendant. Prosecutors
intentionally introduce false testimony, flawed forensic science and
allow police officers to get away with perjury, yet they are not held
accountable for their actions. Just as police officers who cut down
unarmed Black men get off with justifiable homicides. No homicide is
ever justifiable.
How is it that Black americans who only make up 12% of the U.$.
population make up 60% of the prison population? Our prison population
has quadrupled since 1980. In 1980 Pennsylvania spent $100K on prisons,
now the state spends $1.8 billion annually. It’s no wonder Pennsylvania
is facing a $2.3 billion deficit. In 1980 only 6% of the nation’s
prisoners were convicted of drug offenses, now that number has grown to
25% and offenders are receiving twice as much time.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This prisoner does a good job summarizing
the national oppression that is inherent in the criminal injustice
system, not just in Pennsylvania but across the United $tates. We have
reviewed the book
The
New Jim Crow which gives more background and details on this system.
While we agree that Pennsylvania (and other states) have an economic
interest in expanding their prison systems, we are careful not to
mislead people into thinking prisons are about business. Prisons are a
tool of social control which also provide good paying jobs for large
numbers of labor aristocracy workers. But they are fundamentally a money
losing business: As we explained in an article on
the
economics of prisons, prisons do not make enough money to cover
their costs so they will always be subsidized by the government.
I am writing regarding our circumstances here in Lea County Detention
Facility. As a group we have decided to go on a food strike to protest
inhuman conditions of isolation. This facility and administration
automatically has placed the majority of individuals in some type of
Ad-Seg. We are currently locked down 23 hours a day with one hour out to
get rec, shower, visit and telephone use. During our one hour out we
have to do all that needs to be taken care of, which is impossible. This
is cruel and unusual punishment.
We have found ourselves getting treated as if we have already been found
guilty for our charges and the majority of us have not even been to
court. Their excuse is that a couple years ago some prisoners caused
some trouble and now we are being punished for something that we had
absolutely no personal participation in. None of those prisoners are in
this facility any longer.
At the moment we are on a group food strike. We are being treated like
animals. I personally have been to prison and in their Ad-Seg lockdown
system we are treated better than here. We would like to be heard, and
ask that this facility be investigated. There have been suicidal deaths
in this facility due to our situation.
On November 21 I was put in full restraints. I was placed in ankle locks
and belly chains with my hands cuffed to my belly chains. And I was
forced to take a shower in full restraints! I was also in full
restraints during my 1 hour out.
MIM(Prisons) responds: We have been getting letters from
prisoners across the country who were inspired by the
food strike
in California prisons and want to use this tactic to bring attention
and change to conditions in their own state’s prisons. We support our
comrades organizing and fighting for better conditions. And we point to
an
article
in Under Lock & Key 23 which provided an analysis of the
California food strike and focused on the importance of ensuring
comrades are fully prepared for these actions before they begin. How a
campaign is led will determine whether it is inspiring or discouraging
to the larger prison population.
As we noted in that article: “One of the major lessons of this hunger
strike is the need for a unifying organizational structure through which
action can be coordinated and goals and information can be formulated
and shared. The
United
Front for Peace in Prisons provides this opportunity by bringing
together LOs and individuals who understand the importance of unity
against the common enemy.”
by a North Carolina prisoner November 2011 permalink
I would like to notify you all that the comrades and myself (about 10 or
15 of us) are going on an indefinite food strike until our demands are
met. It will begin on December 1 and the demands are based on conditions
at the institution that are unequal to others, inhumane and macabre.
Some of the major demands are:
Being able to recreate (on exercise hour) without full restraints
Removal of the metal covering from all segregation windows
Placement of desk, chair and hygiene shelf back in the rooms
Adequate food and full portions on food trays
End of censorship, bans and/or dis-approvals of reading/study material
which do not violate prison rules
Most of our demand are for segregated prisoners who suffer greatly
in the facility. We have also organized a call-in and letter writing
campaign on December 1 and after in response to these conditions we’re
fighting. Our parents, friends and comrades will be participating. We
are learning from our
Pelican
Bay and Georgia comrades, even though our strike is on a smaller
scale. We still need to learn from the experiences of our comrades to
eliminate mistakes.
The information for calling in and letter writing is below.
Superintendent Lance Corponing Assistant Superintendent Larry
Williams Phone: 828-438-5585 Address: Foothills CI - 3720 5150
Western Ave. Morganton, NC 28655
¿Sí se puede o no se puede? ¿Cuál es señor presidente?
A principio del 2008 empezamos a oír del entonces candidato presidencial
Barack Obama que si fuera elegido tomaría acción rápida de la reforma
migratoria. Durante este tiempo también empezó a extraviarse a la
izquierda de la opinión corriente de la burgués por insinuar su disgusto
con los allanamientos de los lugares de trabajo a los indocumentados.
Tampoco, nunca se molestó a mencionar nada sobre la muchísima gente
indocumentada que supuestamente cometió algún “crimen” en cruzar la
borde mexicano/estadounidense cuando dio su discurso al Concilio
Nacional de La Raza.(1)
De verdad, declaraciones como estas sobre el tema de la reforma
migratoria ayudó popularizar el senador de Illinois entre los Latinos lo
cual le ayudó quitarle el voto latino a la entonces Senadora de Nueva
York Hilary Clinton.(2) Aun aquí estamos tres años lejos de la elección
del primer presidente negro de los Estados Unidos y el tiempo nos ha
enseñado otra vez de nuevo que Barack Obombadero como cualquier otro
político estadounidense no tiene nada más que ofrecer a las naciones
oprimidas más que promesas quebradas y más opresión.
Un millón de gente han sido deportados de los Estados Unidos desde la
toma de oficina de Obombadero en el 2009; es decir 400,000 deportaciones
al año con las varias naciones latinas porteando lo peor.(3) También es
importante notar que los números de deportación han aumentado desde a
administración previa de Bush y son históricamente más alta en
comparación de las 500,000 gente quien fueron literalmente
“ferrocarrilados” a México entre los años 1929-39 en lo que los
imperialistas llamaron “arreares de repatriación.” Esto además que no
toda la gente eran ciudadanos Mexicanos.(4)
Más recientemente, los EE UU iniciaron las deportaciones masas bajo el
capo de un programa federal costeado por la administración Obombadero
llamado “comunidades seguras” en que oficiales de ICE (Inmigración y
Coacción Adueñar) en conjunción con policías locales por toda la nación
buscan a los indocumentados y llevan a cabo allanamientos contra
ellos.(3) Los allanamientos son llevados a cabo del encabezamiento de
“operaciones fugitivas.”(3)
Al principio los policías locales tenían la opción de unirse a
comunidades seguras pero muchos de ellos vacilaron previniendo los
problemas potenciales que esto podría causar a sus funciones diarios de
ocupares de las semicolónias internas también a su vigilar de vecindades
con alta densidad de población migrante recién llegados.(3) ICE
eventualmente los pudo vender comunidades seguras a los puercos después
de decirles que solamente buscarían a “los peores de los peores.”(3)
Según la portavoz del gobierno, una mitad de la gente quien han sido
deportados desde el 2009 eran delincuentes violentos, pero
investigaciones sobre el programa han revelado que mucha de la gente
siendo deportada actualmente fueron deportados debido a infracciones
menores, tal como Señora Ramírez quien fue arrestada por policías
locales por una infracción menor de auto; fue mandada a un centro de
detención federal y seguido deportada a México desde Maple Park,
Illinois todo en el espacio de unos pocos días a despecho de que no
tenía fondo de criminal y estaba criando hijos nacidos
estadounidenses.(3)
¿Pero sería que Señora Ramírez era una de las afortunadas si se
considere las circunstancias? La respuesta es sí.
Ciudades de acampamiento, viviendas apretadas, ningún derecho a
abogados, el racismo, el abuso verbal, el abuso mental, golpizas y el
asalto sexual. Esta es la realidad dura que espera a los indocumentados
en cuanto son aprisionados y deportados a las manos de
estadounidenses.(3)
Un caso en punto es el Centro de Detención e Inmigración Federal en
Willacy, Téjas donde una investigación reciente por el ACLU determinó
que había “abuso sexual muy extensiva de las detenidas y un sistema de
injusticia sistemáticamente posesionada sin ninguna responsabilidad
firmemente intacto.”(3) Esta información fue corroborada más por
guardias y un psiquiatra, que eran empleados anteriormente por Willacy,
quien dieron cuentas del abuso al contrario de comprobación de cuentas
que hizo el ICE en donde se le dio un grado de “BIEN.”(3)
Durante este tiempo el departamento de ICE también condujo una encuesta
de los presos supuestamente para ayudarles registrarse las quejas.
Desafortunadamente la encuesta no era nada más que un truco compuesto y
conducido por ICE sí mismo para poner en la mirada a los quien
intentaban registrar quejas y disuadirlos de que siguen por manera de
amenazar verbales.(3)
¿Que Vendrá?
Entonces, ¿qué es lo que la población migrante de los EE UU podrá
esperar? Bueno, si la realidad corriente y el número de gente
corrientemente encarcelados en prisiones Amerikanas puede servir como
una indicación de lo que vendrá, entonces podemos esperar que el país
con el porcentaje más alta de su población detrás de las rejas ahora se
convierta en el país con el porcentaje más alta de nacionales
extranjeros detrás de sus rejas. Más evidencia de como los Estados
Unidos oprime la mayoría del mundo. En verdad, prisioneros políticos.
Los críticos liberales de comunidades seguras como el ACLU han apuntado
que el programa de comunidades seguras es nada más que la política de la
administración Bush inflada con las esteroides de Obama.(5) Aunque
tendríamos que concordar también tendríamos que ir más lejos.
¡Comunidades seguras es el utilizado del sistema de injusticia Amerikana
como una resolución substituta para su población migrante quien ellos
desalojaron en el primer lugar! Los descendientes de los habitantes
originales en esta tierra migran a los EE UU para trabajar a los
trabajos que los estadunidenses no harán, ganando menos salarios que los
estadounidenses. Pero, sólo son tantos trabajos no queridos que necesita
obreros, y frontera abiertas resultarían en una igualación en salarios
estadounidenses con el resto del mundo – el miedo más grande de la
aristocracia obrera. Esta realidad económica, junto con amenazas
políticas que una población oprimida creciente dentro de las fronteras
estadounidense propone, explica por qué los E.E.U.U. se fijan en
controlar estrictamente a los emigrantes (en particular los que cruzan
el Rio Grande)
En un discurso en El Paso, Téjas al comienzo de este año el Presidente
Obombadero otra vez andaba mintiendo y hablando por los dos lados de su
boca cuando dijo que no habría ninguna reforma comprensiva de
inmigración por la culpa de los tercos republicanos.(3) La línea final,
no habrá reforma comprensiva de inmigración y va a seguir “cumplimiento
forzoso en esteroides.” No reforma quiere decir que el requisito, bajo
comunidades seguras de la demandada cuota de deportación de 400,000
anual según un memorándum interno de ICE va a continuar para seguir
recibiendo fondos del Congreso.(3)
Cuando se le preguntó a Cecilia Muñoz, una oficial de alta nivel con el
departamento de Asuntos Interiores de la administración de Obama, sobre
el golpazo que estos tipos de números tendrán en las familias migrantes
en los Estados Unidos, ella respondió con retórica típica de la nación
opresora, dijo que, “familias quebradas son el resultado de leyes
quebradas.” Luego dijo que todo era parte del problema de
inmigración.(3)
A este pincho vendido le respondemos todo al contrario, no hay ningún
problema migratorio pero sí hay un problema del imperialismo y en
realidad es el problema número uno en el mundo ahora; principalmente el
imperialismo estadounidense.
Después de la deportación de Susana Ramírez hubo un esfuerzo para que
voten y pasen una declaración del senado para negar fundos para el
programa de comunidades seguras de ICE. La declaración se llamaba “La
Ley de Susana”, y fue negada.(3)
They like to label us the “worst of the worst” and “California’s most
dangerous” but in fact most of us are doing time for drugs or property
crimes, and through CDCR’s blatant disrespect for the constitution and
their failure to supply adequate appeals process, we are now forced to
do all of our prison sentence. I’m fully aware that in San Quentin alone
most validated SHU prisoners are first timers, have never been past the
reception phase of intake, and are either here for drug related cases,
vehicle theft, or burglary. These are not hardened convicts these are
young males age 19-25 of all races, but the majority are Latino and
Black.
Along with the mistakes that have brought them to this place, many here
have made the mistake of freedom of expression by tattooing themselves
with cultural pride. Those tattoos combined with their nationality get
these prisoners validated as gang members when they first walk through
the prison doors. Validated prisoners are not entitled to any good time
credits, which means they serve longer prison terms than those not
validated (more often white prisoners). So those of us validated
straight from the reception center, in here for non-violent crimes
(drugs or property theft), are not entitled to any good time credits. I
was sentenced to 8 years, I must do all 8 years, but a convicted sex
offender who is sentenced to the same amount of time is out in less than
6 years.
Due to an administration policy, most if not all of us who have been
validated have never received a rule violation report for the alleged
gang participation for which we are validated. What happens when the
people who are in a position to assist in fixing the system only loosen
the nuts more, so the pipes will break, because their family are
plumbers!
This new realignment (in the name of reducing the prison populations) is
hilarious. Now prisoners will stay in county jail, which means CDCR will
have more room to house SHU prisoners, currently in San Quentin, Carson
section. Right now we’re forced to stay in reception centers for up to
2.5 years before being transferred to a SHU.
I can 100% agree with the demands of Pelican Bay, and I really wish that
those in San Quentin would look to them as an example to follow. The
prisoners here in San Quentin participated in the hunger strike for one
meal on the very first day of the strike in July.
All validated prisoners are part of the same struggle. Stop opposing
each other because of separate beliefs, and start to truly unite as
humans in the same fight for true justice!
MIM(Prisons) adds: This is a great addition to our recent
review
of The New Jim Crow, which discusses how the criminal injustice
system targets oppressed nations for social control. However, we do not
have statistics to support the author’s scapegoating of sex offenders.
We have seen sex offenders do their full time and then be sent to a
“hospital” where they will spend the rest of their lives locked up
without being charged with a new crime!
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander 2010, The New Press, New York
As a whole, this is a very useful book for anyone interested in
understanding the criminal injustice system. It is an excellent
aggregation of facts about every aspect of the system - incarceration,
policing, the drug war, the courts - making a scientific case that this
is really a system for social control of oppressed nations within U.$.
borders. Where Alexander falls short is in her analysis of how this fits
into society in the broader context. She doesn’t actually name national
oppression, though certainly this book is clear evidence for the
existence of something more than just an attitude of racism. She doesn’t
take on the question of why Amerikan capitalism would want such an
extensive system of prison social control. As a result, her solutions
are reformist at best.
Prisons as a Tool of National Oppression
Starting with the history of Amerikan prisons, Alexander explains how
the relatively low and stable incarceration rate in this country changed
after the civil rights movement which the government labeled criminal
and used as an excuse to “get tough on crime” and increase
incarceration.(p. 41) It was actually the revolutionary nationalist
movements of the 60s and 70s, most notably the Black Panther Party,
which terrified the Amerikan government and led to mass incarceration,
murder, brutality and infiltration to try to destroy these revolutionary
groups. Alexander’s failure to mention these movements is symptomatic of
a missing piece throughout the book - an understanding of the importance
of revolutionary nationalism.
This book does an excellent job exposing the war on drugs as a farce
that is only really concerned with social control. Although studies show
that the majority of drug users are white, 3/4 of people locked up for
drug crimes are Black or Latino.(p. 96) Further, statistics show that
violent crime rates are unrelated to imprisonment rates.(p. 99) So when
people say they are locking up “criminals” what they mean is they are
locking up people who Amerikan society has decided are “criminals” just
because of their nation of birth.
To her credit, Alexander does call out Nixon and his cronies for their
appeal to the white working class in the name of racism, under the guise
of law and order, because this group felt their privileges were
threatened.(p. 45) And she recognizes this underlying current of white
support for the criminal injustice system for a variety of reasons
related to what we call national privilege. But this book doesn’t spend
much time on the historical relations between the privileged white
nation and the oppressed nations. J. Sakai’s book Settlers: The
Mythology of the White Proletariat does a much better job of that.
Alexander argues that Amerikans, for the most part, oppose overt racial
bias. But instead we have developed a culture of covert bias that
substitutes words like “criminal” for “Black” and then discriminates
freely. This bias is what fuels the unequal policing, sentencing rates,
prison treatment, and life after release for Blacks and Latinos in
Amerika. Studies have shown that Amerikans (both Black and white) when
asked to identify or imagine a drug criminal overwhelmingly picture a
Black person.(p. 104) So although this is statistically inaccurate (they
should be picturing a white youth), this is the culture Amerika
condones. Even this thin veil over outright racism is a relatively new
development in Amerika’s long history as a pioneer in the ideology of
racism. (see
Labor
Aristocracy, Mass Base of Social Democracy by H.W. Edwards)
“More African American adults are under correctional control today - in
prison or jail, on probation or parole - than were enslaved in 1850, a
decade before the Civil War began.”(p. 175) It is this national
oppression that leads Alexander to draw the parallel that is the source
of the book’s title: prisons are the new Jim Crow. She recognizes that
prisons are not slavery, but that instead prisons are a legal way to
systematically oppress whole groups of people. While she focuses on
Blacks in this book she does note that the same conditions apply to
Latinos in this country.
The Role of the Police
Alexander addresses each aspect of the criminal injustice system,
demonstrating how it has developed into a tool to lock up Black and
Brown people. Starting with the police system she notes that the courts
have virtually eliminated Fourth Amendment protections against random
police searches, which has led to scatter shot searches. By sheer volume
yield some arrests.(p. 67) These searches are done at the discretion of
the police, who are free to discriminate in the neighborhoods they
choose to terrorize. This discretion has led to systematic searches of
people living in ghettos but no harassment of frat parties or suburban
homes and schools where statistics show the cops would actually have an
even better chance of finding drugs. In reality, when drug arrests
increase it is not a sign of increased drug activity, just an increase
in police activity.(p. 76)
Law enforcement agencies were encouraged to participate in the drug war
with huge financial incentives from the federal government as well as
equipment and training. This led to the militarization of the police in
the 1990s.(p. 74) Federal funding is directly linked to the number of
drug arrests that are made, and police were granted the right to keep
cash and assets seized in the drug war.(p. 77) These two factors
strongly rewarded police departments for their participation.
Asset seizure laws emphasize the lack of interest by the government and
police in imprisoning drug dealers or kingpins, despite drug war
propaganda claims to the contrary. Those with assets are allowed to buy
their freedom while small time users with few assets to trade are
subjected to lengthy prison terms. Alexander cites examples of payments
of $50k cutting an average of 6.3 years from a sentence in
Massachusetts.(p. 78)
Bias in the Courts
Taking on the court system, Alexander points out that most people are
not represented by adequate legal council, if they have a lawyer at all,
since the war on drugs has focused on poor people. And as a result, most
people end up pleading out rather than going to trial. The prosecution
is granted broad authority to charge people with whatever crimes they
like, and so they can make the list of charges appear to carry a long
sentence suggesting that someone would do well to accept a “lesser” plea
bargained deal, even if the likelihood of getting a conviction on some
of the charges is very low.
“The critical point is that thousands of people are swept into the
criminal justice system every year pursuant to the drug war without much
regard for their guilt or innocence. The police are allowed by the
courts to conduct fishing expeditions for drugs on streets and freeways
based on nothing more than a hunch. Homes may be searched for drugs
based on a tip from an unreliable, confidential informant who is trading
the information for money or to escape prison time. And once swept
inside the system, people are often denied attorneys or meaningful
representation and pressured into plea bargains by the threat of
unbelievably harsh sentences - sentences for minor drug crimes that are
higher than many countries impose on convicted murderers.”(p. 88)
After allowing discretion in areas that ensure biased arrests, trials
and sentences, the courts shut off any ability for people to challenge
inherent racial bias in the system. The Supreme Court ruled that there
must be overt statements by the prosecutor or jury to consider racial
bias under the constitution. But prosecutorial discretion leads to
disproportionate treatment of cases by race.
Further discretion in dismissing jurors, selective policing, and
sentencing all lead to systematically different treatment for Blacks and
Latinos relative to whites. This can be demonstrated easily enough with
a look at the numbers. Sophisticated studies controlling for all other
possible variables consistently show this bias. But a 2001 Supreme Court
ruling determined that racial profiling cases can only be initiated by
the government. “The legal rules adopted by the Supreme Court guarantee
that those who find themselves locked up and permanently locked out due
to the drug war are overwhelmingly black and brown.”(p. 136)
Release from Prison but a Lifetime of Oppression
This book goes beyond the system of incarceration to look at the impact
on prisoners who are released as well as on their families and
communities. Alexander paints a picture that is fundamentally
devastating to the Black community.
She outlines how housing discrimination against former felons prevents
them from getting Section 8 housing when this is a group most likely to
be in need of housing assistance. Public housing can reject applicants
based on arrests even if there was no conviction. This lack of
subsidized or publicly funded housing is compounded by the
unavailability of jobs to people convicted of crimes, as a common
question on job applications is used to reject these folks. “Nearly
one-third of young black men in the United States today are out of work.
The jobless rate for young black male dropouts, including those
incarcerated, is a staggering 65 percent.”(p. 149)
“Nationwide, nearly seven out of eight people living in high-poverty
urban areas are members of a minority group.”(p. 191) A standard
condition of parole is a promise not to associate with felons, a virtual
impossibility when released back into a community that is riddled with
former felons.
“Today a criminal freed from prison has scarcely more rights, and
arguably less respect, than a freed slave or a black person living
‘free’ in Mississippi at the height of Jim Crow. Those released from
prison on parole can be stopped and searched by the police for any
reason - or no reason at all - and returned to prison for the most minor
of infractions, such as failing to attend a meeting with a parole
officer. Even when released from the system’s formal control, the stigma
of criminality lingers. Police supervision, monitoring, and harassment
are facts of life not only for those labeled criminals, but for all
those who ‘look like’ criminals. Lynch mobs may be long gone, but the
threat of police violence is ever present…The ‘whites only’ signs may be
gone, but new signs have gone up - notices placed in job applications,
rental agreements, loan applications, forms for welfare benefits, school
applications, and petitions for licenses, informing the general public
that ‘felons’ are not wanted here. A criminal record today authorizes
precisely the forms of discrimination we supposedly left behind -
discrimination in employment, housing, education, public benefits, and
jury service. Those labeled criminals can even be denied the right to
vote.”(p. 138)
Alexander devotes a number of pages to the issue of voting and the
prohibition in all but two states on prisoners voting while incarcerated
for a felony offense, and the further denial of the vote to prisoners
released on parole. Some states even take away prisoners’ right to vote
for life. She is right that this is a fundamental point of
disenfranchisement, but Alexander suggests that “a large number of close
elections would have come out differently if felons had been allowed to
vote…”(p. 156) This may be true, but those differences would not have
had a significant impact on the politics in Amerika. This is because
elections
in an imperialist country are just an exercise in choosing between
figureheads. The supposedly more liberal Democrats like Clinton and
Obama
were the ones who expanded the criminal injustice system the most. So a
different imperialist winning an election would not change the system.
Oppressed Nation Culture
On the Amerikan culture and treatment of oppressed peoples Alexander
asks: “…are we wiling to demonize a population, declare a war against
them, and then stand back and heap shame and contempt upon them for
failing to behave like model citizens while under attack?”(p. 165) She
argues that the culture of the oppressed is an inevitable result of the
conditions faced by the oppressed. And in fact the creation of lumpen
organizations for support is a reasonable outcome.
“So herein lies the paradox and predicament of young black men labeled
criminals. A war has been declared on them, and they have been rounded
up for engaging in precisely the same crimes that go largely ignored in
middle and upper class white communities - possession and sale of
illegal drugs. For those residing in ghetto communities, employment is
scarce - often nonexistent. Schools located in ghetto communities more
closely resemble prisons than places of learning, creativity, or moral
development. …many fathers are in prison, and those who are ‘free’ bear
the prison label. They are often unable to provide for, or meaningfully
contribute to, a family. And we wonder, then, that many youth embrace
their stigmatized identity as a means of survival in this new caste
system? Should we be shocked when they turn to gangs or fellow inmates
for support when no viable family support structure exists? After all,
in many respects, they are simply doing what black people did during the
Jim Crow era - they are turning to each other for support and solace in
a society that despises them.
“Yet when these young people do what all severely stigmatized groups do
- try to cope by turning to each other and embracing their stigma in a
desperate effort to regain some measure of self esteem - we, as a
society, heap more shame and contempt upon them. We tell them their
friends are ‘no good’, that they will ‘amount to nothing,’ that they are
‘wasting their lives,’ and that ‘they’re nothing but criminals.’ We
condemn their baggy pants (a fashion trend that mimics prison-issue
pants) and the music that glorifies a life many feel they cannot avoid.
When we are done shaming them, we throw up our hands and then turn out
backs as they are carted off to jail.”(p167)
National Oppression
Alexander would do well to consider the difference between racism, an
attitude, and national oppression, a system inherent to imperialist
economics. Essentially she is describing national oppression when she
talks about systematic racism. But by missing this key concept,
Alexander is able to sidestep a discussion about national liberation
from imperialism.
“When the system of mass incarceration collapses (and if history is any
guide, it will), historians will undoubtedly look back and marvel that
such an extraordinarily comprehensive system of racialized social
control existed in the United States. How fascinating, they will likely
say, that a drug war was waged almost exclusively against poor people of
color - people already trapped in ghettos that lacked jobs and decent
schools. They were rounded up by the millions, packed away in prisons,
and when released they were stigmatized for life, denied the right to
vote, and ushered into a world of discrimination. Legally barred from
employment, housing, and welfare benefits - and saddled with thousands
of dollars of debt - the people were shamed and condemned for failing to
hold together their families. They were chastised for succumbing to
depression and anger, and blamed for landing back in prison. Historians
will likely wonder how we could describe the new caste system as a
system of crime control, when it is difficult to imagine a system better
designed to create - rather than prevent - crime.”(p. 170)
Alexander does an excellent job describing the system of national
oppression in the United $tates. She notes “One way of understanding our
current system of mass incarceration is to think of it as a birdcage
with a locked door. It is a set of structural arrangements that locks a
racially distinct group into a subordinate political, social and
economic position, effectively creating a second-class citizenship.
Those trapped within the system are not merely disadvantaged, in the
sense that they are competing on an unequal playing field or face
additional hurdles to political or economic success; rather, the system
itself is structured to lock them into a subordinate position.”(p. 180)
The book explains that the arrest and lock up of a few whites is just
part of the latest system of national oppression or “the New Jim Crow”:
“[T]he inclusion of some whites in the system of control is essential to
preserving the image of a colorblind criminal justice system and
maintaining our self-image as fair and unbiased people.”(p. 199)
One interesting conclusion by Alexander is the potential for mass
genocide inherent in the Amerikan prison system. There really is no need
for the poor Black workers in factories in this country any longer so
this population has truly become disposable and can be locked away en
masse without any negative impact to the capitalists (in fact there are
some positive impacts to these government subsidized
industries).(p. 208) It’s not a big leap from here to genocide.
Economics for Blacks have worsened even as they improved for whites. “As
unemployment rates sank to historically low levels in the late 1990s for
the general population, joblessness rates among non-college black men in
their twenties rose to their highest levels ever, propelled by
skyrocketing incarceration rates.”(p. 216) She points out poverty and
unemployment stats do not include people in prison. This could
underestimate the true jobless rate by as much as 24% for less-educated
black men.(p. 216)
Unfortunately, in her discussion of what she calls “structural racism”
Alexander falls short. She recognizes white privilege and the
reactionary attitudes of the white nation, acknowledging that “working
class” whites support both current and past racism, but she does not
investigate why this is so. Attempting to explain the systematic racism
in Amerikan society Alexander ignores national oppression and ends up
with a less than clear picture of the history and material basis of
white nation privilege and oppressed nation oppression within U.$.
borders. National oppression is the reason why these oppressive
institutions of slavery, Jim Crow, and imprisonment keep coming back in
different forms in the U.$., and national liberation is the only
solution.
How to Change the System
Alexander highlights the economic consequences of cutting prisons which
show the strong financial investment that Amerikans have overall in this
system: “If four out of five people were released from prison, far more
than a million people could lose their jobs.”(p. 218) This estimation
doesn’t include the private sector: private prisons, manufacturers of
police and guard weapons, etc.
To her credit, Alexander understands that small reformist attacks on the
criminal injustice system won’t put an end to the systematic oppression:
“A civil war had to be waged to end slavery; a mass movement was
necessary to bring a formal end to Jim Crow. Those who imagine that far
less is required to dismantle mass incarceration and build a new,
egalitarian racial consensus reflecting a compassionate rather than
punitive impulse towards poor people of color fail to appreciate the
distance between Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and the ongoing racial
nightmare for those locked up and locked out of American
society.”(p. 223)
The problem with this analysis is that it fails to extrapolate what’s
really necessary to make change sufficient to create an egalitarian
society. In fact, these very examples demonstrate the ability of the
Amerikan imperialists to adapt and change their approach to national
oppression: slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration. Alexander seems to
see this when she talks about what will happen if the movement to end
mass incarceration doesn’t address race: “Inevitably a new system of
racialized social control will emerge - one that we cannot foresee, just
as the current system of mass incarceration was not predicted by anyone
thirty years ago.”(p. 245) But she stops short of offering any useful
solutions to “address race” in this fight.
Alexander argues that affirmative action and the token advancement of a
few Blacks has served as a racial bribe rather than progress, getting
them to abandon more radical change.(p. 232) She concludes that the
Black middle class is a product of affirmative action and would
disappear without it.(p. 234) “Whereas black success stories undermined
the logic of Jim Crow, they actually reinforce the system of mass
incarceration. Mass incarceration depends for its legitimacy on the
widespread belief that all those who appear trapped at the bottom
actually chose their fate.”(p. 235)
This is a good point: successful reformism often ends with a few token
bribes in an attempt to stop a movement from making greater demands. And
this is not really success. But short of revolution, there is no way to
successfully end national oppression. And so Alexander’s book concludes
on a weak note as she tries to effect a bold and radical tone and
suggest drastic steps are needed but offers no concrete suggestions
about what these steps should be. She ends up criticizing everything
from affirmative action to Obama but then pulling back and apologizing
for these same institutions and individuals. This is the hole that
reformists are stuck in once they see the mess that is the imperialist
Amerikan system.
It’s not impossible to imagine circumstances under which the Amerikan
imperialists would want to integrate the oppressed nations within U.$.
borders into white nation privilege. This could be advantageous to keep
the home country population entirely pacified and allow the imperialists
to focus on plunder and terrorism in the Third World. But we would not
consider this a success for the oppressed peoples of the world.
A progressive movement against national oppression within U.$. borders
must fight alongside the oppressed nations of the world who face even
worse conditions at the hands of Amerikan imperialism. These Third World
peoples may not face mass incarceration, but they suffer from short
lifespans due to hunger and preventable diseases as well as the
ever-present threat of death at the hands of Amerikan militarism making
the world safe for capitalist plunder.