BRAEN FUUD
“What is key to America’s understanding of class is the persistent belief – despite all evidence to the contrary – that anyone, with the proper discipline and drive, can move from a lower class to a higher class.”
- From Michelle Alexander’s recent book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in The Age of Colorblindess.
(The above quote sourced from The Czech, a fantastic blog about social (in)justice.)
A personal anecdote: My uncle was in jail for over a decade for committing a crime to which he had admitted his guilt. To be more precise, he unintentionally killed someone who had attacked him viciously. After he was released, the lack of any sort of rehabilitation he received while he was behind bars left him unprepared for a life in a world he had not been apart of for so long. To the point where he returned to old habits and got into a bit of trouble, but he hasn’t gone back to prison. My father and family had to teach him things like what DVDs are and how to watch them. I want to say, “Well if he tried harder, he could have been a Malcolm X! You know, educated himself and avoided trouble!” But from the few times I visited him as a child with my dad and watching way too many reality TV shows about the prison system, I know that inmates were basically living in a place were Jim Crow laws were still intact. The environment is certainly not the most encouraging for those with ambition and drive to better themselves. Society had deemed them unworthy participants and had set up a structure to prevent them from doing so. There is no rehabilitation for inmates. For most, their “life” is the time spent between sentences. I have an aunt who has worked in prisons as well. The stories I’ve heard her tell are… extremely frustrating, to say the least.
I can’t wait to read this book.
