It Shouldn’t Feel Normal To Have A Loved One In Prison
But for many black families, this is the case
According to US News, Black Americans are incarcerated at a state average of 1,240 per 100,000 residents, whereas Latino Americans are imprisoned at a rate of 349 per 100,000 residents. White, non-Latino Americans, meanwhile, are incarcerated at 261 per 100,000 residents.
Convict Leasing: The Foundation Of The Dilemma
This means for us Black folks that we are likely to know someone or of someone who is incarcerated or has been incarcerated. I blame convict leasing to be a significant contributor to the problem of mass incarceration of black people.
After slavery ended, people still needed slaves to execute labor for cheap or free. The best way to get someone to work for cheap is to put them in prison, so they're forced to work for dirt cheap wages or nothing at all.
Incarceration Is Incentivized
There has always been an incentive to incarcerate black individuals, whether to receive more tax dollars, enforce racist agendas, acquire labor for cheap or free, and there’s so much money to be made in private prisons (a highly profitable business). There are many other reasons of course, but these are some of…
