Resource Remixing
The book I chose for this resource collection assignment is titled “If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry: The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers.” Written by Claire Schmidt, the book examines the Wisconsin prison system through the lens of the humor used by white correctional workers. Since this text tackles subjects such as perceptions of race and power in prison system I believe an appropriate overarching Big Question to ask is “Do prisons and the justice system promote justice?” The following resources I have gathered can help students make sense of this complex and initially overwhelming question.
The first resource I found is this op-ed piece. This is a valuable inclusion for teaching the content related to the book because it serves to share establish the dominant narrative and view of prisons. The author writes about why prisons should continue to focus on punishing inmates and be tough on criminals, which is how the American prison system currently operates. A question to be asked during this reading could be “Is it right for someone who commit a crime to be stripped of his or her rights?” Handing out this reading early on will provide students with background knowledge on one of the predominant viewpoints regarding prisons and also have them start thinking about what rights inmates have.
A second resource that pairs nicely with the first one is another op-ed found here. This piece opposes the ideas presented in the first article and elaborates on how rehabilitation is a better alternative to simply punishing inmates for their crimes. A teacher could ask “What alternatives to a punishment based prison system are there and what are their benefits?” An article like this introduces that idea that the American prison system does not have to be the way it is and starts to challenge the dominant narrative. Both of these first two op-eds also have students thinking about what just treatment of inmates should look like.
The third resource comes in the form of two different graphs. The first page of this PDF shows the number of inmates in U.S. State and Federal prisons and different rates of incarceration among various nations. These graphs visually show how the number of American prisoners has drastically changed over time and compares the rate of incarceration in the United States to other countries around the world. Questions such as “Why do you think the American prison population has increased over time?” and “Why do you think there are higher rates of imprisonment here than in other countries?” would be good for a teacher to ask. These graphs make this topic of justice and prisons an issue with historical and global context.
To better inform students on the historical information provided in the third resource it should be followed up with this primary source. This message to Congress from Richard Nixon shows why the United States government began taking a much harder legal stance on drugs and stepped up their policing efforts for criminalized substances, which was one of the reasons the prison population began to rise. A question to ask to support learning from this resource is “Why did the United States government begin to enforce more drug related laws in the late 1960s and 70s?” This topic opens up the discussion of non-violent crimes, which students may think should be evaluated differently than a violent crime.
The next resource is a political cartoon, which can be found here. The cartoon depicts a canon labeled “War on Drugs” being bent backwards towards Uncle Sam, inferring that the government and Americans are hurting themselves by pursuing the resource demanding war on drugs. Students could be asked “What point do you think the artist is trying to make” and dig deeper by asking “Why do you think some people do not support the ‘war on drugs’?” The class will then be able to compare the idea presented in this cartoon to the rhetoric used by Richard Nixon. Students could also connect this cartoon and an idea of war on drugs to the increase in prison population show in previous resources.
The sixth resource I collected is this blurb on how the war on drugs can be seen as having racist motivations and certainly has a more detrimental impact on certain groups. This piece serves as the bridge between the discussions of the morality of non-violent drug offenses to how the American prison system disproportionately jails people of color. It presents data that shows that although white and black Americans are using illicit drugs at a similar rate, the latter is exceedingly more likely to be arrested for said consumption of drugs. A question that could be asked to students for this resource is “Based on what you know about the war on drugs, do you think it intentionally aims to imprison people of color?” A resource like this is crucial because the discussion surrounding racism in the justice system can shed light on historical and contemporary policies that do not promote equality.
This fact sheet provides students with statistics that show how the prison system is incarcerating African-Americans at an incredibly high rate. When giving this resource to students I would first hand out the top two sections, which solely provides factual data regarding the imprisonment of African-Americans. I would then ask what the students “What do you think are the key impacts of a single race being imprisoned at a higher rate?” After they contemplate this they could move on to the final two sections of the fact sheet where information is given about why African-Americans are more likely to be incarcerated and then provides four important effects of incarceration. This resource shows students that the higher rates of imprisonment for people of color is irrefutable and factual, while also showing them how harmful this racism is to African-American communities.
The eighth resource is an article that covers the number of Latinos in the American prison system and how they are treated. The text can be found here, and is important because it not only shows that other non-white groups are treated unfairly by the justice system but also discusses how many non-citizens are placed in a unique predicament. A teacher can ask their class “Should undocumented Americans be treated the same as United States citizens or be imprisoned in the American prison system?” These ideas are directly connected to the idea of whether or not the American justice system is being just and doing at it can to promote equality among different groups. This is one of the most currently provocative discussions in political and social circles, so students need to be informed about the complex question at hand.
A group of primary source documents that can be used to provide a wider historical and political context of the imprisonment of Americans can be found here. The Smithsonian has a collection of personal letters written by people who were imprisoned in Japanese internment camps during WWII. To foster connections between this historical event and more modern social discourse about the justice system, a teacher should ask, “How in both the past and present-day have policies been created to target specific racial groups?” Including more historical thinking and primary sources ensures that students are building their social skills. These documents also show how the prison system has been used in an unjust manner to persecute groups based on race.
The final resource I would like to include for this discussion about the American prison system is an inside look at the social dynamics within a prison. This video shows how the racial barriers instilled on the outside world by the justice system are reinforced internally in prisons.
In the BBC clip clear racial lines are being drawn within the prison, showing that the prison environment is highly contentious with the various groups vying for power. Asking the class “How are conceptions of race seen in the justice system, both inside and outside of prisons?” would spur discussion about the negative impacts this racism has for free citizens and prisoners.
These resources provide students with data, evidence, and ideas that can help them make a claim that the American prison and justice may or may not truly promote justice. The artifacts included also aim to expose students to a non-dominant narrative regarding possible failures of the justice system. This exposure can enable them to take a strong moral stance on the topic and inspire them to solve this social justice issue.
