STEVIE N. BERBERICK
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What we should really be talking about when we're talking prison

2/23/2014

2 Comments

 
PicturePublic domain image by Pixabay
I’ve been following the news of Cuomo’s initiative to expand free education to ten prisons across New York State.  I’ve also been following the outrage this has caused, most notably on my Facebook feed – the new medium of choice for the stammering of desires, fears, vendettas, jealousies, etc…

Most of the commentary regarding Cuomo’s initiative was, as expected, voiced in outrage.  Those on my friends list questioned why their spouses college tuition couldn’t be paid, they wondered why we (us New Yorkers) were “rewarding” folks for being incarcerated, and (my favorite for its sheer absurdity) declared that perhaps they should assault Cuomo so they, in turn, could go to prison for free college.

It's time that we change the dialogue into one where we rationally consider the facts, and how we - as a collective - can better our society.  Cuomo's initiative begins that work, but it isn't by any means proactive to the larger picture of a better world.

                                                                                                   . . .

Let me break this down – there is nothing about receiving an education in prison that is free.  There is nothing glamorous about prison.  It appears we have entered a kind of embellished naivety regarding what happens in these institutions.  Dear readers, prison is not like Orange is the New Black.  You don’t get to have steamy sex with that fierce hottie from down the cell block and spend the remainder of your day gabbing in the library, laughing over dinner, watching plays, and dancing.  There is, however, one thing Orange gets right – you can expect abuse from your fellow inmates and, yes – from the correctional staff too. 

Synthia writes the following of her time in New York State correctional institutions:

“I recently picked up my pen and paper and wrote to SPR because I needed someone to help me through my ordeals. I was happy to receive a reply. My name is Synthia [edited] and, I am a pre-operated transsexual who has been raped in prison by an inmate and a prison guard. The assaults occurred in two facilities, i.e., Elmira CF (1998 inmate sexual assault) and, Attica CF (2002 guard assault)…. I have been in prison with allot of people that society would just frown at for the crimes that lead them in here but, how about the crimes that happenes in here to us, individuals that don't deserve to get raped or sexually assaulted, or just the plain average Jane like me who gets convicted for others crimes and, because I wasn't a snitch, I get 25 years and, a bunch of wolves ready to rape me because they can't be released to rape an innocent woman.”

I may be far off base here, but if given the choice  between an education I have to pay for or sexual assault  – I would choose paying for my education every time.  If given the choice between paying for my education and working long, tedious days were I receive roughly $0.25/hr. in compensation I would, without a doubt, choose paying for my education.  If I had to choose between paying for my education and living every second of every day in fear, and carrying with me a fierce trauma for the rest of my life I would ---- yes, you guessed it ---- choose to pay for my education. This is not to say that some kind of binary choice exists, but to explain that free should not always be qualified by money.

I do not write this to shame you or to disregard your voice.  Please understand that I DO understand your frustration.  I understand the crippling debt we face when we make the choice to pursue higher education.  I’ve been in the academic game for over seven years now … believe me; I feel the weight of student debt bearing down on me every day.  I register what the dreaded monthly interest email says every time I open it.  I stand in solidarity with you in regards to your frustration over your debt.

Yet, I cannot stand in solidarity with anyone who voices outrage at Cuomo’s initiative.  Not only because our incarcerated face extreme violence everyday, and offering some ray of hope in the midst of the darkness seems the right thing to do, but also because we have been lied to. 

This is something we need to talk about.

The prison industrial complex does not exist in the name of justice.  It exists in the name of racism, exploitative labor of the most brutal kind, and to support our ever corrupt corporate industries.

In 2012 Black males were 6 times more likely than White males to face incarceration.  Hispanic males were 2.5 times more likely.  59% of the African Americans who are disproportionately incarcerated are in prison because of a drug offense. This means, of course, that the majority of our incarcerated have made a mistake. I'm willing to wager that many of us have committed illegal blips from time to time, but social injustices prevalent in the structures of society means most of us weren't incarcerated for it.  In short, those whom are incarcerated are not violent monsters we see in Hollywood crime shows, they are not to be feared - and must certainly not to be denied human dignity.  Violence, slave-like labor, and rape are hate crimes that rob of dignity.

The prison industrial complex exists for the profitability of industry. 

Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, and Victoria’s secret have all utilized prison labor, and they are but some of many.  The incarcerated make roughly $0.25 per hour for their labor, creating a system akin to the sweat shop and trafficking ring horrors we read of. This is condoned by the government and when education is offered it is decried by the population.

 Yet, this is not the fault of the citizen – they have said what they were told to say.  We’ve been indoctrinated to believe that prison is where the “bad” people went, the monsters and speak nothing ofs.  Yet, we were not told it is a system created to perpetuate cheap labor.  We were not told most of the incarcerated are there because of drug related charges.  We were not told that the system was built on a history of extreme and violent racism.

Also, and perhaps this is the bit that will really get your attention, this initiative has the potential to cut recidivism rates from 40% to 4%. That means that the likelihood that New Yorkers would have to repeatedly pay $60,000 per inmate per year is drastically reduced.  It also takes a devastating and much needed blow at the three-strikes policy that is, like the prison industrial complex, designed to stratify.

This stratification is plainly seen in our us v. them mentality.  We ask why are THEY getting free education.  Why are THEY getting health care?  Why are THEY guaranteed food?  What we should be asking is why isn’t the entire population guaranteed these necessities? 

Currently, New York State harbors 54,100 inmates, but has a population of 19.57 million.  In short, it is proposed that we offer free higher education to .03% of New York’s population, and we should.  Education is directly linked to incarceration, because it is directly linked to poverty and the propagation of racism, sexism, ableism, etc… Here's what we should be saying ....

Yes, we should offer .03% of our population a free education, but we should also offer this opportunity to everyone.  It makes for a better today and a much better tomorrow.

In the 1950’s many students went to CUNY institutions for free.  In an effort towards comparison let us also note that the prison population in the 1950’s hovered around 160,000 inmates.  The prison population in 2012 was, in dire contrast, 1,571,010. We know the sickening state of attending University, which has been caused by neoliberalism. These numbers illuminate not only the importance of education in eradicating the many poisons of our society, but also the relationship the prison population has with educational accessibility.

Of course the solution to the many issues I’ve posed here isn’t simply education – it would be a wonderful world if we could find a one-step solution to the goal of a more egalitarian and kind world, but we can’t.  There are many steps we must take, and it begins with the abolishment of the us vs. them mentality that polarizes our society to a point where we fail to see the humanity, and the dignity, of those we were programmed to fear.


2 Comments
Tony
2/24/2014 10:15:18 am

First Cuomo is up for election this year and this is just to get votes from people who don't know enough that this is not actually addressing the issue. How about we address first why they are in prison. Like communities that live in a cycle of poverty and crime. How about investing money in communities so they don't end up in prison in the first place. Plus there is no mention of the process, ie do they even have to have a GED or a high school education? How about rapists, so they have this prison degree, your still a registered sex offender when you get out and that severely limits your career options, and likewise if you are a murderer, these crimes that landed them in prison just don't go magically away because you have a prison degree. First thing it is asked on a application, "Have you been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor," and employers run background tests and google potential hirees anyway. Just about about any crime they did that landed them in a nys prison will get them a job that no one wants despite their prison degree by the very fact they are ex-cons. So crime might pay off for them in the end anyway when they get out, especially at the realization that employers won't take their prison degree as seriously as Cuomo is playing it up. How about as a condition of them getting their prison degrees and as part of their parole when they get out that they have to work for their community in some capacity, like poverty centers or in rehab clinics, ie being proactive in helping the community that helped pay for their prison degree. Also the elephant in the room, NYS continually cuts student aid while tuition rises, how about we address that before free college for inmates? Also Cuomo and the state is not being forward about what the actually cost of the program is, and not addressing the actual process of what inmates can get into the program. How about a inmate who is repeatably in trouble in prison, does not accept responsibility for his actions or show remorse? All universities and colleges have a code of conduct, how about these prisoners in these college programs? All in all this seems like it is being ramroded into the NYS budget without public scrutiny. But like i said in the end this is just an election year vote getter, not anything substantial.

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Stevie link
2/24/2014 10:43:02 am

Hello, Tony. While I cannot answer all of your questions I shall attempt to answer a few.

As far as I understand, and again - this is what I understand, Cuomo plans to run this in a manner equivalent to the Bard program, which is rigorous and does require a high school degree. This therefore means that prisoners without a degree would have to go through a GED program. Now, this is speculation based on Cuomo's frequent citations to the Bard program. Here is their link:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/23

It provides quite a bit of information via the FAQ page. It costs $60,000 per prisoner per year in New York State, initiating this would increase that cost to $65,000. However, and this is important, the cutting of recidivism rates has the potential to save the state over $19 million per year until recidivism rates drop down so significantly that we greatly slash our prison population.

I agree with you that we must do something about the shabby state of higher education in this country - absolutely. Yet, this is something I do believe we must extend to every person. Education must be seen as a right, not a privilege. Yet part of seeing that realization come to life is also acknowledging that rights are established for everyone.

Thanks for reading,
Stevie

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    Stevie N. Berberick is an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts at Washington and Jefferson College. Stevie often finds themself hostessing solitary dance parties in the kitchen, hanging out with their furrmiliars (Ivy and Halle), or playing with alchemy while electroforming jewelry -- when they're not reading, researching, and/or writing, that is.

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