Incarceration, Racism, and Fear

by Ilya Sheyman [courtesy of Blog for America]

(This is a personal diary, and in no way implies endorsement by DFA) 

Last week, there was a shocking report released that over 1% of America's adult population is in jails. Of course, the numbers are even worse when broken down into subgroups. Disproportionally African American, disproportionally there for non-violent drug offenses, and incredible rates of recidivism due to the lack of any sort of rehabiltation program, the system is fundamentally broken. 

More than one in a hundred adult Americans are in prison, a higher rate of incarceration than at any time in US history that is pushing the budgets of several states to breaking point, a report warns.

The Pew Centre on the States, a Washington-based research body, reveals that in 2007 the inexorable rise in the prison population saw the US cross what it calls a "sobering threshold". The number of prisoners in federal and local jails grew to 2.3 million, out of the country's adult population of 229.8 million, which gives a ratio of one in 99 adults behind bars.

When that statistic is broken down for different demographic groups, the proportion is even more startling. One in nine black men aged 20 to 34 is incarcerated.

It has long been known that the US has the most prison-happy approach to crime control in the world. China, with a population far greater than America's, comes in second with 1.5 million prisoners, and Russia third with 890,000.

Today, some minor changes in sentencing guidelines come in effect which will allow the release of a tiny fraction fo the prisoners caught up in our unjust system. And what does DOJ have to say?

Judges could reduce sentences for nearly 20,000 inmates following the decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- an independent federal agency that advises all three branches of government on sentences. Advocates of the sentence reduction say it is only fair, but the Justice Department counters and says that the move will allow dangerous criminals back on the street.  

Fear. Fear. And more fear. Fear of a scary black man coming out to kill you and your children. Fearmongering and scapegoating. Whether its blacks, hispanics, or gays. For decades now, through administrations Republican and even Democratic, there has been no solution on this issue. That's why need real change and we need it now.