The video started out by stating that there are more black
men in the incarceration system today, then there were in slavery during the
1850’s. A Columbia Professor by the name of Mark Lamont-Hill pointed out many
other troubling stats which include the fact that over 840,000 or 40.2% of
prison total population are made up by black men. Along with the high number of
black population within the penal system today, 88,000 dollars is spent each
year per inmate, while only 9,000 dollars are spent on education. These
statistics blew my mind. Lamont said that “we live in a nation of first classjails, and second class education”. My major question after watching this video
was simply why? However, after reading some of Michel Foucault’s book on “Discipline and Punishment”, I began to
put the pieces together.
Foucault begins his book by talking about the ways in which
punishment was handled in the early 18th and 19th
centuries. Punishment included horrid torture and physical hidings amongst crowds
of people who gathered around to see justice being wrongly served. Although the
crowd of people did not like or agree with the brutality placed upon people
within the society, the authority at the time was the king. Foucault discussed in
his book the culture in which the right to punish was not decided by law or a
system, but rather the power of the kings discretion. It was even more
startling to find out that the crimes that these people were being executed for
were not ones that deceived of “public Good”, but rather a personal slur to the
king himself. The public executions of these people were not to uphold justice
in the eyes of society; it was rather shown publically to illustrate the power
of the king and his superiority.
When reading Foucault’s book it made me come to the
realization that the king of the 18th century is a symbol of the
upper or ruling class of the 21st century. Prisons are around still
because they have many benefits to the ruling elite upper social class. It has
been though that the lower social class commits crime to rebel against the
upper class, however the upper class uses the law of today to keep the lower
class suppressed. Foucault says “It would be hypocritical or naïve to believethat the law was made all in the name of all; that it would be more prudent torecognize that it was brought to bear upon others; that in principle it appliesto all citizens, but that it is addressed principally to the most numerous andleast established class (276)”. With this in mind Foucault believed that the
elite social class used the lower class in such a way to benefit themselves.
Although Foucault’s book goes much more into depth in
regards to portrayals of punishment such as torture, and discipline, I felt
that the idea about the elite social class having the authority over the lower
class is the primary cause for the rising number of black men in the prison system
today. Although I am not justifying crime as being morally acceptable or
justified under any circumstance, my problem is that as stated in the video
illustrates, the elite class is placing more emphasis on the penal system, than
on keeping black men out of jail.
It is startling, yet amazing to see how Michel Foucault’s
theories and ideals are so prevalent and alive in today’s culture. Although
Foucault was not specifically talking about the black community of today, the
points for which he presented in his book go hand-in-hand with how society has
transformed today. Foucault believed that “the discipline of the prison systemhas spilled out all over society. The spillover causes a struggle for eachmember of society. People either struggle and resist the discipline of societyand may be labeled criminal, or submit to it and lose their own identity. In Foucault’s
theories and beliefs, the loss of one’s own personal identity to the discipline
of the state is the "real crime”.
I found this very interesting, especially considering that there are many less black men in the U.S. than there are white men. It clearly shows that there are still numerous racial issues in this country and that it isn't something that we should ignore but something we should work to eliminate.
ReplyDeleteAngela Davis has written a couple of books on exactly this point, and she agrees with Foucault in some ways. Foucault was talking about the birth of the modern prison in Europe, but if we move to the the Americas, then we might notice that the time period he is talking about is the height of American slavery. Hence, the modern penal system emerged alongside slavery. Does it (despite its stated intentions) reproduce the same racial divisions and inequalities produced by the way labor was organized and policed in the 18th century? This is one of Foucault's questions when he asks how the penal system changes alongside economic changes (from Feudalism to capitalism, for instance.)
ReplyDeleteWhile there are many more African Americans in prison is this mostly because of the social situations put on them by the government policies and neglecting them or is it straight racism?
ReplyDeleteYou certainly managed to find a vast number of statistics to make your point very sound. Good job researching and presenting your idea of the problem. My questions though, is "so what?" I feel like this brought the problem up very well, but kind of left it there. What do you think should be done about it? Should be more lenient in our incarceration? Should we have some new, modern alternative to the prison model? Give us an opinion, as it is evident that you care enough about the issue.
ReplyDeleteI found the statistics that you researched very startling. I can't believe that one out of every fifteen black children have a parent that has been or is affiliated with the prison system. Like Jane Artois said, I think this post shows the need for change with racial issues and education issues in our society today. very interesting post.
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