class notes - documentary 13th

The documentary 13^th is based on the racial disparities dating back to slavery that extend into the era of mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is an era that began in the early 1970’s and runs into the present. 13^th begins dialogue on the controversy of the loophole that is within the 13^th amendment which states "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." Beginning with slavery, the documentary unfolds the chain reaction that has led to the current era of mass incarceration. The opening statement in the documentary states this, “The United States is home to 5% of the worlds population but 25% of the worlds prisoners. ¼ prisoners in the world are locked up in the United States.” Unfortunately the issue is said to be from a chain reaction of events so large, reducing that number is nearly impossible. Because the 13^th amendment grants the legality of slavery through criminals, it has been used as a tool against the prison population for the greater benefit of the government and all who are associated. When slavery was abolished in 1865, the economic crisis began to take its toll on the people who had previously benefitted from the Africans who were forced to work for them. The American government now needed a new way to raise the economy in spite of this crisis and slavery seemed to be the best option. After the civil war, the 13^th amendment was exploited and people were being arrested for minor crimes such as loitering and vagrancy and criminalized for economic benefit. Because of the 13^th amendment loophole that granted the prospect of economic benefit through enslaving criminals, the African American people went from free people to slaves once again in a matter of seconds. The blacks were becoming this stereotype of criminal intent they did not deserve. This then became a notion perceived all too often we see today. The black Americans became these horrid figures that were perceived as criminal and with the up-rise of the KKK there was a series of lynching in the south that cause the African Americans to flee to the cities we see them today such as Chicago, Detroit, and Harlem. Segregation soon followed because of this fear of black people and civil rights activists began to start movements in up-rise against this oppression. Many ties we look at these activists as heroes but they were demonized and portrayed as criminals that violated the laws in the south. The civil rights movement began to pick up speed around the same time that crime rates began to rise in the United States giving politicians leverage allowing them to claim that somehow the movement had to do with these rising crime rates. President Nixon began the law and order era, which was a fight against crime turned fight against black political movements, and other liberation movements. Drug abuse became “America’s public enemy number 1” according to Nixon and was intended to disrupt the black community. When Ronald Reagan was elected, the war on drugs became literal in 1982 and the crisis in the economy was highly evident.  When crack cocaine became introduced into the market, it took over and the criminal penalties increased. The war on drugs influentially increased the prison population and provided profit for companies that are supplied by prison laborers.  Unfortunately the fact that corporations were benefitting from prisoners labor, this meant a lot of people wanted to keep [prisoners imprisoned. Innocent people await trial for long periods of time and are faced with the choice of pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit in order to avoid facing conviction of a longer sentence. The problem with t eh prison system is that people are being locked away and little to nothing is done to rehabilitate them. Instead, their liberty Is taken away, and they are punished for heir crimes. The prison system does not prepare people for the real world and many people end up living worse off than they were inside of the prison. In America it is not enough to repay your debt but you must be shunned from society and your past will follow you wherever you go.

Class Notes 5/2

Checklist for class today-

• Reading response to, between the world and me- How did it make you feel to read Between the World and Me and why?
• Understanding- Wealth and equality among African Americans and white Americans
• Red- negro concentration- category for whether a neighborhood was good or bad was based on race- 1930s-1940s
• FHA granting mortgages, would not finance a home in a red area- “Red lining”
• FHA refused to finance home in these red areas
• Return to groups- think about quotes in lens of the rest of the book
• Use quotes as a catalyst for discussion
• Have big discussion about quotes etc.
• Go in groups, chronologically, pausing to discuss what the groups have shared
• 1. Coates- Definition of racism- right quotes
• Whiteness becomes an idealized norm
• Race is a by product of racism
• Psychological perception of your own race
• White people held to a standard as well
• What does he mean by the people who believe that they are white? 42,98
• “In order to believe in your whiteness you have to ascribe to it”- Dr. West
• White Supremacy- language of cultural superiority
• 3. What role does innocence play in this story? Why does that matter? 96-97
• Flip side to innocence is naivety
• How do we determine who is guilty?- Dr. West
• Part of what Coates learns that he is not innocent and if he is flawed everyone is flawed.
• 2. Democracy and American Exceptionalism- What does American exceptionalism mean?
• Comparing our government to other countries- creates an allusion
• Fine print- involuntary capitalist exceptionalism
• 4. Because criminal justice system is flawed- it has potential to break someone
• We think about racism as individual acts of meanness”
• He is talking about systemic injustice/institutional injustice- Housing, jailing
• “I'm not a racist”- washes the hand of what inequality does exist
• we blame the victim
• 5. The dream-
• Intention- slave owners didn’t mean to be cruel or some were good to their slaves- the dream is a way in which we hope for a way of living without realizing the effects on other people, minorities- this white picket fence dream is not beneficial to all
• 6. What it means to be a writer-
• Means of recognizing- no one is really innocent
• Motive
• Pg. 29- writing as a means to getting an answer to the question at hand
• He learns he has a different way of seeing the world and wants to ask questions
• Personal Responses to the Book
• Who is the intended audience beyond his son?
• Dreamers who might not see themselves but might relate to the logic of cultural superiority

Dehumanization, which marks not only those whose humanity has been stolen, but also (though in a different way) those who have stolen it, is a distortion of the vocation of becoming more fully human” -  Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Reading Response: Letters

We've now read several different pieces of epistolary literature (written in letter form), so for this response, I'd like for you to choose one of the final letters in The Fire This Time, "Message to My Daughters" or "This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution" and write your own letter in response. You can address the author, or someone you know, or me, or us as a class, and respond to the ideas in the letter you choose.  This response is due on May 9 by the end of the day (11:59 pm).

Reading Response: Open Poetry Explication

For this response, choose one poem, and dig deeply into it to explore what you think it's trying to get us to see or feel. Any poem from Of Poetry and Protest is an option, except for those that have been options for reading responses before. You can write about any poem in the collection except for the Emmett Till poems and the poems about Civil Rights (the ones about Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer). You are also welcome to read other poems by the poets you've encountered; the Poetry Foundation website is searchable by author if you'd like to look for one poet's work, or they also put together a list of poems for Black History Month by some of the authors we've read. Any of those are fair game as well.

If you have questions about whether or not you can write about a poem, let me know, but the point here is for you to offer your original ideas about how to interpret a poem that has spoken to you in some way. Make sure you identify the poem with title and author. This response is due on May 9, but the end of the day is fine (11:59 pm).

Reading Response: 13th

As you watch the documentary, I'd like for you to think about how this form of storytelling compares with other texts we've read. Do you find the film more or less compelling than poetry ("Cells and Windows," for instance) or memoir (ex: Between the World and Me) or fiction (ex: Homegoing)? Why do you think that is? How does documentary function differently as a genre than other forms of representation? Make sure to refer to particular strategies or elements from the film to make your points. This response is due no later than May 9 (but the end of the day is fine).

Mass Incarceration: The Presidents

Nixon Administration 1971

Nixon’s trusted advisor spoke out and said that the war on drugs was a war on black people. The images that the media and Nixon had used painted a picture of urban and black communities being the main place where drug issues took place. This is one traceable starting point of black communities being blamed for drug crimes. Nixon’s plan lead to a racial profile being created of those that used recreational drugs.

It also lead to an increase of incarceration of nonviolent criminals, seeing as how most non violent criminals are convicted of drug crimes.

Reagan Administration 1984

Reagan passed the comprehensive criminal reform act, and the bail reform act. The bail reform act allowed judges to take civilian safety into consideration when granting or denying bail

the Correction Corporation of America was awarded a contract to take over a correctional facility and it was the first prison in the United States to be private owned. (This created a big problem because of private prisons being opened made it easier to care for low cost inmates, and now people can make money off of those in jail)

Bush Administration 1989

Bush gave an oval office speech about the war on drugs. He said he pledged one billion dollars to build more prisons and facilities, stating, that that is what we need.

From this mandatory minimum sentences were enacted, and racial disparities were worsened.

Clinton Administration 1994

Bill Clinton passed the 3 strikes policy which mandates a life sentence for those who commit violent felonies after 2 prior convictions. This amplified mass incarceration issues significantly.

It became impossible for you to be taken seriously for candidacy and be soft on crime. Around 1987 the murder was increasing by 5% every year and Bill’s reaction was to squash the violent crime by keeping repeat offenders locked up permanently  

Now this graph here shows the number of incarcerated citizens increasing exponentially from 1994 to around 1999 and then it plateaus and slowly continues to creep up. You can also see that there are more 3 time strikers in jail than 2nd time, and this policy drastically increases those in prison.

Bush Administration 2004

Prison Rape elimination act of 2003 focused on ending sexual assault in prisons, this is helpful toward ending mass incarceration because sexual assault that happens to prisoners makes them far more likely to commit violent crimes and end up back in prison. The sexual assault of people that have committed nonviolent crimes is a big issue.

300 million dollar grant by George Bush (Prisoner Reentry Initiative) will give people a second chance by providing education and job training, which will help decrease the likelihood of people committing more crimes and going back to prison.

Bush believed that people need to know their rights, but that we shouldn’t stop confessions to read people's rights. However, many wouldn't admit to something had they been read their rights.

Obama 2015

Obama spoke at the annual meeting of the NAACP to talk about the problems with mass incarceration also to say: “you forgot women” He spoke about how mass incarceration is not just an issue in the african american community but also a female issue, because it happens to women too.

He also mentioned that we spend $80 billion a year on incarceration, and quote: “could provide free pre-K for every 3 and 4 year old, or double the salary of every high school teacher.”

He ended his speech by calling for an end to mass incarceration, and to build communities that offer second chances.

He was the first president to visit a jail and talk with corrections officers about issues they face.

As a result of this visit 6,000 inmates were going to be released federally. Of that 6,000 about 1,800 were illegal immigrants that were turned over to ICE and a deportation process was beginning (all 1,800 had committed violent felonies on top of being undocumented, and as part of an effort of immigration reform, Obama ordered they be turned over to ICE). Many of the others went to halfway housing where they can receive the rehabilitation and treatment that they need to be reintegrated to society.

The Obama Administration also had some unconventional ideas to reduce mass incarceration. The idea behind raising minimum wage (which I did not know) was to reduce illegal activity that has been found in low income areas to make ends meet (a 3-5% decrease in crime and incarceration). Another idea was to add around $10 billion to expand police forces and cut back on crime by around 16%.

Works Cited

Bond, Walter. "Nixon's 'War on Drugs' Was Government-sanctioned Terror on Black people."

TheGrio. The Grio, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Diamond, Jeremy. "Bill Clinton Concedes Role in Mass Incarceration." CNN. Cable News

Network, 07 May 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.    

Ehrenfreund, Max. "Obama’s advisers just revealed an unconventional solution to mass

incarceration." The Washington Post. WP Company, 25 Apr. 2016. Web. 01 May

2017.

"George W. Bush on Crime." George W. Bush on Crime. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/George_W__Bush_Crime.htm>.

Guillen, Magdalena. "Mass release of US prisoners spells deportation for hundreds."

AOL.com. AOL, 14 July 2016. Web. 01 May 2017.

"Go to Bing homepage." Nixons War on Drugs - Bing images. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr.

2017.

“Go to Bing homepage." Crime Rates after 3 Strikes Policy - Bing images. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Lopez, German. "Obama: $80 Billion Spent on Incarceration Could Eliminate Tuition at Public

Universities." Vox. Vox, 14 July 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.    

Moore, Antonio. "President Bill Clinton Gets It Wrong On Mass Incarceration." The Huffington

Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Apr. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Neyfakh, Leon. "Obama Wants to End Mass Incarceration. But Does He Have the Power to

Make a Difference?" Slate Magazine. N.p., 15 July 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.   

Newman, Tony, and Bill Piper. "Friday: 25th Anniversary of President George H.W. Bush's

Infamous Oval Office Speech Escalating "War on Drugs"." Drug Policy Alliance. Drug

Mass Incarceration

Mass incarceration is an era that began in the united states around the year of 1971. The war on drugs was an influential in regards to the prison population rate between 1970 and 2015. The U.S.currently holds the largest prison population in the world totaling a number of more than 2.3 million by the year of 2015. according to the FBI statistics, in 1970 there were over 357,000  prisoners in federal and state prisons combined and by 2015 the number of state and federal prisoners in the U.S. was over 2.3 million.

“Incarceration has increased more than 500% in the last 40 years..Half of the people in federal prisons are serving time for a drug offense” (Sentencing project 2017)

Crack Cocaine was developed in the 1970's and began to spread quickly by the 1980's. Drug sentencing became more harsh and roadside drug tests were invented to help reduce drug driving, The tests worked by binding the antibody to the drug of interest which then produced a positive result. The issue is that the antibody was able to bind to other things that were not cocaine, producing a positive result even if the person being tested had not done cocaine. Crack cocaine penalties were extremely long and harsh compared to other drugs and because of this faulty drug testing there were many innocent people being locked up for long periods of time.

A case study from sentencing project talks about Kemba Smith's story of incarceration. While seven months pregnant she was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for conspiracy to participate in her boyfriend's drug activities, a non-violent, first-time offense. In her story she claims to have known that her boyfriend at the time was selling drugs and they were living off of the profits. Unfortunately, it did not matter that this was a one-time, non-nonviolent offense. it was an offense in the eyes of the court and she was convicted due to affiliations with her boyfriend's drug selling business. Unfortunately there are thousands more like Kemba and many that have faced life in prison without the chance of parole due to this harsh sentencing. The biggest issue with the treatment of drug cases is the perspective from which it is looked at and the fact that they are designed to put away hardened criminals. Many people are uninformed when it comes to drugs and their effect on society and the penalties are much harsher than needed for those who do not have malicious intent. 

The DPA states that "Despite recent federal reforms of crack sentencing laws much higher penalties still exist for possession and sale of crack, despite the fact that, pharmacologically, it is the same drug as cocaine. Possession of 28 grams of crack cocaine yields a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for a first offense; it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to prompt the same sentence." 

The laws revolving around drug sentencing provide a deeper explanation as to why such a large population of people are incarcerated due to drug related offenses, Through the development of more accurate drug testing, more flexible laws, and further education on the effect of drugs we can help end the era of mass incarceration 

Works Cited 

"Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997 (ICPSR 2598)." Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.

"Unreliable drug test leads to wrongful convictions." Innocence Project. N.p., 11 July 2016. Web. 02 May 2017.

"Watch Truth About Drugs Documentary Video & Learn About Substance Addiction. Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth & Other Illegal Drugs." Foundation for a Drug-Free World. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.

Mauer, December 21 2016| Marc, December 20, 2016| Angela Maria Kelley & Cristina Moreno, December 20, 2016| Angela Glover Blackwell, December 19 2016| Ron Pollack, and December 19, 2016| Senator Jeff Merkley. "The Obama Legacy: Chipping Away at Mass Incarceration." Talk Poverty. N.p., 21 Dec. 2016. Web. 02 May 2017.