07 Jul Mass Incarceration – Abolitionist Perspective
ASSIGNMENT
You will playthe role of a Black Lives Matter transgender abolitionist leader born in theyear 2000 who grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn) in the midst ofgentrification.
Bear in mindthat being an abolitionist does not mean to argue for an end of punishment. Itdoes not mean anybody can do anything and walk away with it. It means that youbelieve (1) that the end of slavery is an ongoing, not a finished, process(many still experience its many legacies) and, (2) that incarceration preservesthe racial hierarchies and ideologies emerged during slavery. It also meanssustaining that the purpose of the penal system is not so much to protectsociety from dangerous criminals but rather, to control impoverished racial minorities.
In otherwords, what needs to be abolished is not punishment but the social function of imprisonmentas a control system targeting specific racial groups and social classes. If theprison system really focused on dangerous criminals, it would be visiblyreduced (probably to something like 5% of its current size). Most importantly,the prison population would no longer respond so strongly to such a specificracial and class profile.
Your reportwill be read in the National Congress, in the context of a debate on criminaljustice reform. Your dream is a world free of racism with equal opportunitiesto all. Those who defend the prison system know you are a BLM communityactivist and will use that information to disqualify you: your arguments shouldbe convincing not only for people who think like you but also for those who donot think like you.
- Your report will have a total of 500 words, excluding citations and titles.The format will be similar to the discussion forums (ASA style, introduction, conclusion, etc.)
- In the introduction (1 paragraph) you will explain what you will be talking about and mention what kind of sources you will be using to support your findings. Define key terms (such as mass incarceration). Provide an outline of what you will discuss, and briefly mention your major argument.
- The main body (discussion – 3 paragraphs) will be a presentation and critical interpretation of your major findings. Findings will include at least 3 statistics. Use the qualitative sources to elaborate arguments. Use this section to anticipate counter-arguments.
- To conclude (1 paragraph), offer two recommendations of reforms towards de-carceration. You can guide yourself using the question that opens the last chapter of Angela Davis book Are Prisons Obsolete?
