Unjust Imprisonment and Violence Within Walls Kept Hidden From Society
How Biased, Racist Americans Ruined a Young Man’s Life Because of the Color of his Skin
It is not the first time in history an individual of color has been wrongly persecuted for something they were falsely accused of. When young Emmett Till was lynched by racist men in 1955 for flirting with a white woman, an act he did not even do, his murderers were acquitted, even after the “victim” Carolyn Bryant admitted to Emmett’s innocence. In 1998, nineteen year old Tyisha Miller was shot to death in her car in Riverside, CA after police claimed she reached for a weapon. The four white policemen shot her 12 times and were not charged for her murder. In 2012 George Zimmerman racially profiled an innocent Trayvon Martin and fatally shot him as he was walking home from a convenience store. We see there is no shortage of times where young men and women of color are punished for crimes or actions they have not committed. People of color continue to receive unjust punishment and the prison system continues to fail individuals who do not fall into the category of “white.”
The Kalief Browder Story
Innocent until proven guilty — it is apparent it only applies to you if the color of you skin is white. Kalief Browder was arrested at 16 under suspicion of stealing a backpack while on his way home in the Bronx. He maintained his innocence, was unable to pay the bail placed on him, and was imprisoned without conviction at Rikers Island for three years. Rikers Island has been named one of the most violent prisons in the United States. Kalief spent a majority of his time in prison in solitary confinement. When he wasn’t in solitary, he endured beatings by other inmates, was starved, and was mistreated by prison guards. He was released in 2013 when prosecutors dismissed the charges.
In 2015, after suffering with depression because of his incarceration, Kalief Browder committed suicide by hanging himself. He learned how to kill himself while in prison and attempted to commit suicide multiple times while at Rikers. The prison guards often encouraged Kalief to kill himself. The prison system failed Kalief Browder just like it fails thousands of other people of color across America. Why is this kind of prison system allowed to exist?
Prisons Are Not Meant For People of Color
As a child I used to believe prisons were there to keep bad people away from society and to help citizens get better when they were released. I realize the reality of the situation is just as grim as it was hundreds of years ago. The reality of prisons is terrifying. Riots plague the prisons almost daily, innocent people are imprisoned, and many develop mental illnesses from the constant torture they endure while incarcerated.
“When you get out of prison, you’re basically a nobody. “ -Yusuf Salem
Prisons have been divided into institutions for white men and white women, but where do men and women of color fit in? Angela Davis discusses how women of color were often imprisoned for defending themselves against acts of violence, but they were often placed into men’s prisons, because women of color were kept separate from even white women in prison. The violence happening in prisons, both male and female, only continues to rise in our current society. The prison system has become nothing more than an industrial complex hungry for any kind of monetary gain it can get its hands on.
The courts and prisons are biased, they give lighter sentences to white people while severely punishing people of color for the same sentences. It always comes down to money. Many people of color cannot afford to pay off their bail amount, while many white men and women have the money and privilege to. The prison systems also use their inmates for monetary gain. In Netflix’s hit show Orange is the New Black, the female inmates earn about 11 cents per hour for their jobs, one of which includes making underwear for a big lingerie company. Big corporations in America are making a profit off of prisoners, a modern day slave system, without having to call them slaves. I believe it is unfair to the prisoners who are human beings with feelings just like anyone outside of the prison walls, but because they’re so heavily hidden from society, many start to forget that the prisoners voice and feelings matter. Solitary confinement for undeserving prisoners becomes common punishment, resulting in mental illnesses that hinder the person’s ability to function once out of jail.
Instead of treating prisoners like the “other” we need to focus on helping them get better, so that when they are finally released, they are able to better integrate back into society. Help inmates learn jobs and skills that can help them find employment when they are released, don’t deny them an education that can further expand their knowledge and give them something to strive for. Instead of denying them a voice, they should have the right to participate in activist movements like the women’s march. Inclusiveness beats exclusiveness.
Not the first or the last
Kalief’s tragic story is a reminder that innocent people are unfairly punished for crimes they did not commit. Yusuf Salaam was one of the “Central Park Five” a group of Black and Mexican young boys who were falsely accused of raping a jogger and served 7 years in prison. He describes what he saw in prison and how little the system does to better the inmates, he argues that the system actually makes prisoners worse off. In prison you become invisible to the outside world because of the walls placed around it and the seclusion it brings. It’s a type of social death which in turn has led to actual death. While Kalief was in solitary confinement and prison, he experienced a social death. He became a nobody to society, he was innocent but jailed without a trial, and many forgot about him until he killed himself. The dangerous state of American prison systems has left many people of color considering the same end fate as Kalief.
Two more young prisoners Kenan Davis and Fabian Cruz committed suicide at Rikers in 2015. We have a problem in America that is so serious that people are starting to take their lives to escape it. Those in prison have been stripped of their voice and it seems like suicide may be their only way to protest and get their voices heard. The prison system has been designed to help whites, while ignoring the people who actually need help.
America needs to reform the prison system before more innocent youth like Kalief Browder take their own lives as a result of the corruption. Stop killing innocent people.
“This happens every day. I feel like this gotta stop. There’s a lot of people in there for stuff that they didn’t do, and they gotta be in there for about three years. A lot of people…will take the plea deal, knowing they didn’t do it, and it happens every day.” -Kalief Browder
