The thirteenth amendment to the United States constitution states:
- Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
- Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The United States makes up 5% of the world's population. Despite that, the US holds 25% of the world's prison population. According to the bureau of justice statistics, as of 2009 the US prison population is around 2.3 million. Making the US the number one when it comes to those behind bars. Which is rather ironic thing to be number one in when you are the land of the free. Nearly 1 million of that 2.3 million consist of African Americans. Meaning the number of African Americans in prison is equal or greater than those in Canada, Central America(Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá), Australia, Western Europe(Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco), Northern Europe(Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Faeroe Is.(Denmark), Guernsey(UK), Isle of Man(UK), Jersey(UK)), Western Asia(Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen), Afghanistan, and Central Africa(Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo(Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome e Principe) Combined. (Statistics source: International Centre of Prison Studies)
African Americans only make up around 13% of the US population. The bulk of the nearly 1 million of African Americans imprisoned consist of black males. And when Isolated, African American males as a whole only make up around 6% of the US population. All these facts affects not just the psyche of America, but the world at large. I remember my first job. One of my coworkers had just moved to the US from Korea. For two whole weeks she would not say a word to me. Then one day she walked to me and said, "you're nice, you are so nice, I don't get it, in Korea they only show black people committing crimes."
The racial disparities in America when it comes to incarceration creates the air of fear .That fear combined with the ignorance leads to further racial rifts and injustices. There is a reason why African Americans also make up the majority of those wrongfully convicted(The Innocence Project, Center of Wrongful Convictions). When one is in a state of fear, they often can't see the facts and decide to go with preconceive thoughts. These preconceive thoughts make society at large divided on real issues and the result is further racial injustices occur.
One of the greatest factors that has led to US mass incarceration is the war on drugs. Since Nixon declared the war on drugs in 1971, the US prison population has expanded from 200,000 to where it is now at 2.3 million. African Americans represent 12% of monthly drug users, but comprise 32% of persons arrested for drug possession. In 2002, blacks constituted more than 80% of the people sentenced under the federal crack cocaine laws and served substantially more time in prison for drug offenses than did whites, despite the fact that more than 2/3rds or 66.7% of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are white or Hispanic(NAACP criminal justice fact sheet). Mandatory minimum sentencing as well as three strike laws also are key factors of the US prison population.
Then there is the privatized prison industry. As mentioned above under the 13th amendment of the constitution slavery is still perfectly legal if convicted of a crime. The privatized prison industry is one of the fastest growing industries in America. In 2010, the two largest private prison companies alone took in nearly $3 billion in revenue, and their top executives each received annual compensation packages worth well over $3 million(http://www.cnbc.com/id/44874053). These prisons profit off insourcing prison labor. Prisoners are working in Industries such as banking, energy producers: oil and utilities, insurance, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, telecommunications, as well as transportation(Daily Kos Insourcing). Consider this fact when you think about unemployment in America. Combine this with the fact that the solution to overcrowded state and federal prisons has been to sell them to private prison owners, there becomes further barriers in reform of the justice system. These barriers in the reform of the justice system further racial rifts in America becoming roadblocks to real progress.
Consider this, slavery ended(to a degree) in 1865, in 1876 Jim Crow took it's place. Jim Crow ended in 1965, in 1971 came the war on drugs. Each one has demonized a race of people, each one has become vehicles to profit off of those people. It is 2013 and there are many that would like to believe we have progress but the fact is that in many ways we have remained the same.
Consider this, slavery ended(to a degree) in 1865, in 1876 Jim Crow took it's place. Jim Crow ended in 1965, in 1971 came the war on drugs. Each one has demonized a race of people, each one has become vehicles to profit off of those people. It is 2013 and there are many that would like to believe we have progress but the fact is that in many ways we have remained the same.
