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Marquita E. Prinzing Student Body Senator Editor's note: This article originally appeared in "adrenaline!," the official forum of the Shoreline Community College Student Government. The author welcomes questions and comments at adrenaline2003@hotmail.com, or stop in to meet your student government at Room 950 (in the PUB). As a biracial person that has lived most of her life in the north, I haven't been exposed to the tragic reality of many black people worldwide. I've seen and thought that I have understood the statistics and few personal stories of discrimination against African-Americans in the justice system but not until the Black Student Union's trip to Monroe Prison to meet with the Black Prison Caucus have I gotten a real view of what is going on. I felt surprisingly comfortable while we walked through the medium security prison security doors into the room in which the Black Caucus Meeting was going to be held. As we entered, the chairman, Louis (also known as Rhino) and another prisoner, instructed us to take a seat in any one of the empty chairs. Rhino then introduced the group and opened the floor to us to ask questions. The topics that were discussed were as follows: Grievance: they said that the grievance was almost nonexistent. You fill out a form and give it to a person who works for the company; so it never gets looked at. Some people even said that they get picked on more. Security guards see what ticks them off and use it against them. Another said that was the only way to prove your defense when a case comes up against them. Health: Rhino told us of a personal story wherein he almost died. He was trying to demonstrate how bad the health system was. He had an insulin/sugar problem that was making his muscles weak. He eventually got too weak, and fell naked on the cell floor. Security saw and took him to the medical facility. He stayed there for 3 days while they were trying to figure out what happened to him. His mom didn't talk to him for 2 weeks. She called and had to get a lawyer to get him medical attention. One more day and he would have died. Racial Discrepancy: There's worse racism there than out here. Everyone's separated. In the cafeteria, blacks stay with other blacks and everyone's segregated. Staff is all white. You stay with whom you relate with, as one of the prisoners explained. There is oppression on all fronts of the justice system. The administration is discriminating against them. For example, everything that fits in black culture is gang related so blacks can not wear any traditional African-American clothing styles, (i.e. bandanas, baggier-pants, and other clothes influenced largely by Hip-Hop culture) while whites can. Because people's stereotypes have been proven, they treat blacks and others worse than outside. One of the statistics that I kept hearing was that most blacks were in jail for drug offenses. The statistics do show this but in this particular group, when asked less than 25% of the 40 or so prisoners there said that they were in for drug offenses but many more said that their crimes however were drug related. One prisoner testified that "kids are glorifying drugs and quick money" without worrying about the consequences. This shows that there is a serious issue with blacks learning good problem solving skills. The prisoners invited the BSU to return as soon as possible. BSU will maintain relationships with the Black Prisoners Caucus of Monroe Prison to try to help in anyway possible. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |
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