Veiled Racism: The Private Prison Industrial Complex
The term “Private Prison Industrial Complex is an expression that is used to attribute the massive and rapid expansion of the inmate population in the United States to the powerful political influence of privately owned prison companies, as well as those companies that directly benefit from these companies, such as the companies that supply goods and services to these institutions. This industrial complex is large and highly lucrative.
These private companies have successfully lobbied for stricter sentencing laws that extend the amount of time that can be passed down for certain crimes. To ensure their profit margins, these companies also require federal and state governments to guarantee a minimum annual capacity. Due to the substantial penalty of a not meeting this minimum, the government has developed laws that have served to increase the national incarceration rate. Currently the U.S. has, by far, the largest prison population in the world amongst industrialized countries.
There is a complex dynamic at play as far as the imprisonment of American citizens. There is the inevitable need to feed the machine, meaning that there must be a constant flow. Additionally, white supremacy must find a way to effectively manage the black population. As the influx of illegal immigrants from the south continues, the country is establishing a new working class — meaning that the need for blacks as the permanent lower class is rapidly diminishing. This will ultimately force the black low-income workers out of the job market and into a deeper level of poverty.
One of the inherent side-effects of poverty is an increased crime rate. Since 1980, this country has experienced a steady and sharp incline in the number of African American men who are incarcerated, creating a situation in which the prison population is not demographically reflective of the general population. What is transpiring is the transition of blacks from the lowest level of the working class to the primary population of the private prison industrial complex.
As I stated, the dynamic here is extremely complex, and we must be careful not to place too much emphasis on one particular element of this massive scheme. As much as we must acknowledge the presence of racism in the grand scheme of things, it is not the only thing that fuels this profit machine. The fallacious philosophies through which many of the problematic issues that plague those who are ensconced in poverty are dealt with creates the foundation for this massive machine. The immediate response to many of the social issues that are inextricably connected to poverty is imprisonment. This is because the vast majority of these issues are veiled and conveniently grouped under one all-encompassing category — crime!
We must understand that an asserted effort has been made by white supremacy to ensure that the black population remains poor. This is confirmed and validated through the fact that on the eve of the civil war, quasi-free blacks owned only one half of one percent of this nation’s wealth. Here we are 150 years later, and blacks still only own one half of one percent of this nation’s wealth.[1] Only through a systematic process could this occur.
Where there is poverty, there will be crime. The problem is that many people, even those who are being negatively impacted by this system, believe that imprisonment is the answer; however, the truth is that imprisonment does not make any of these problems disappear, it only serves to make people disappear. In our case, the vast majority of those who the system is causing to disappear is the black male population. Actually, not only does this flow not help mitigate the problems created by poverty; it serves to exacerbate them. When you remove men from the community at the rate in which black men are being extracted from inner city communities, you leave a void of leadership, protection, covering and role models. This type of policy leaves mothers to attempt to execute the role of both parents, which is impossible. Despite the fact that this type of policy does not work to eliminate the issues surrounding poverty, the fact that herding people who are a part of marginalized communities has become highly profitable ensures that the cycle will continue.
The private prison industrial complex provides the answer to the dilemma of what will be done with the black man. The black man poses a constant and consistent threat to the power structure of white supremacy, and the private prison industrial complex provides the immediate solution to the problem. In the meantime, white-owned private companies are generating enormous profits off of the backs of black men. What we are experiencing is simply the latest form of slavery.
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While many will argue that crime is a choice, which I agree with, I must also present the fact that the deck has been stacked and the choices have been reduced tremendously. There is no shortage of studies that reveal that crime is a direct result of poverty. There are only three ways that a man can support his family:
- Through income generated through a job or business
- By receiving supplemental support through government social programs
- Crime
According to the Fact Tank, the unemployment rate for blacks is consistently twice that of white in this country.[2] The disparity is even worse when comparing white men and black men. A recent article by America Aljazeera revealed that while the unemployment rate for white men is actually 4.4 percent, the unemployment rate for black men is nearly three times that — reaching its peak of 19 percent in 2010. Keep in mind that the unemployment numbers only reflect those who are currently working through government employment channels looking work of unemployment compensation. This means that the unemployment rate for black men is actually much higher.
The truth is that social programs are not available for men who wish to stay with and support their family. The social programs that were introduced in the late 1960s predominantly required that no man be living in the home of any woman receiving benefits — creating a break in the black family nucleus as blacks struggled to deal with the growing unemployment rate. Ironically, this growth in unemployment in the late 1960s can be directly traced to the process of integration, as blacks gave up ownership of their businesses, they also relinquished their power to hire and support other blacks. This placed blacks at the mercy of the white economy.
That leaves crime as the only other viable option to generate revenue. However, before blacks put on their victim’s jacket, it is important to point out that if we are victims, we are victims of our own failures. We have failed to see the power in ownership. We failed to see the fallibility in integration. We constantly fail to see the dangers of trusting a white educational system to educate our youth. Right now, we are sinking in the quicksand of our own failures. This is not to marginalize the pernicious attacks of white supremacy racism, but it is to illuminate the fact that despite their attacks, we are still in a position of power to determine how we will respond. Our compliance is what has provided white supremacy with its power. If we are to effectively engage this vehement struggle for empowerment in an efficacious manner, it begins with taking back the responsibility of educating our progeny. We must establish the paradigms through which they view life.
The public education system is a staging ground that prepares our young black boys for a life of incarceration, and it creates the foundation for a life of poverty and frustration for our black girls. Even those who successfully navigate through this system are not guaranteed success within the grand scheme of the white supremacy structure. According to a recent article in the New York Times, finding employment after graduating college for blacks is a tougher road to travel than it is for whites.[3] Additionally, a study conducted by the University Of Chicago School Of Business revealed that applicants with white sounding names were 50 percent more likely to be called for an interview that applicants with black sounding names but equal credentials.[4]
This is what happens when an oppressed people are intent upon depending on their oppressors to fund their revolution and elevation. We must take a significant step toward building and owning our own stuff, and this includes the educational process.
[1] Anderson, Claud, Black Labor, White Wealth: The Search for Power and Economic Justice, Powernomics Corporation of America, 1994
[2] Desilver, Drew, Black Unemployment Rate is Consistently Twice that of Whites, Fact Tank, 2013
[3] Cohen, Patricia, For Recent Black College Graduates, a Tougher Road to Employment, New York Times, 2014
[4] Bertrand, Marianne, Racial Bias in Hiring, University of Chicago School of Business, 2003