By Sage Lively, Hamilton College Intern 2022
“The first week in Comstock, while waiting in line to go to dinner, I saw a prisoner stabbed four times, his lung punctured twice. The next day in the yard, while sitting on the concrete bleachers, a guy came and sat near me. At first I didn’t notice anything amiss, until he turned his head. From temple to lips, a jagged rip spewed blood down his neck and shirt; he was cut with a can lid. I was astounded by how an innocuous item, such as a can lid, could cause so much damage. … So there I was, fresh upstate, at an age when the average boy just gets his driver’s license, begins to date seriously, and is planning for college. I would be earning a Masters in Prison Survival: etiquette, weapon smithing and smuggling, group dynamics, armory, fear and aggression.” (‘I swerve, pursued.’ Jose Lauriano Di Lenola)
Anyone who has had experience within our justice system, or perhaps taken a rudimentary history class or possesses basic empathy, can see that our legal system is a tool of oppression. After the murder of George Floyd, the cruelty of the state has been under fresh public scrutiny. Thanks to social media and the ability of virtually any citizen to capture video evidence, victims of police brutality have been emboldened to speak up and speak out. Incarcerated peoples, however, do not enjoy this luxury. Incarcerated peoples across the country face physical and mental torment behind bars, unseen and unrectified.
Despite this recent attention to state-sanctioned murders at the hands of police, willful misconceptions persist surrounding our prison industrial system. The pervasive villainization of impoverished and incarcerated peoples allow the American public’s continued apathy. Currently in the US, there are an estimated 2,068,800 incarcerated people (World Population Review). These statistics are only rising, with data confirming an exponential increase over the years.
If the fact that the US has the highest recorded incarceration rate isn’t alarming enough, the racial and ethnic demographics make the country’s incarceration epidemic abundantly clear. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 38.6% of incarcerated people are Black, while making up only 13.6% of the overall population (US Census). Indigenous peoples are also overrepresented, making up 2.7% of the prison population, nearly double their 1.6% overall population statistic. This consistent racial disparity behind bars is no random occurrence. Incarceration in the US was designed to uphold racialized oppression, serving as the natural successor to slavery in unpaid forced labor and manipulation in government representation.
Many industries depend on the labor of prisoners. The government uses prison labor to manufacture goods, handle dangerous chemicals, and even serve as firefighters. With the increasingly rampant subcontracting of prison labor, private companies have been exploiting incarcerated people for years. By a recent estimation, there are over 4,100 companies that profit from prison labor. As this statistic relies on self-reporting, the reality is likely much larger. When considered in conjunction with the jobs prisons provide for their surrounding communities (guards, administration, healthcare, etc.), the economy is largely dependent on forced prison labor. America preys on its most vulnerable populations for economic gain – how can we view this as any more than the perpetuation of slavery?
The prison industrial system allows further economic and political manipulation through gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral constituency boundaries to benefit one political party. Most often, these boundaries are drawn to give more representational power to white, affluent communities. This can be seen in the vast disparity between our most and least populated state. California’s population of 39.24 million translates to 52 representatives, while Wyoming’s 578.8 thousand people are granted one. This means that every electoral vote in California represents roughly 750 thousand people, while Wyoming’s represents their population of 500 thousand, giving their vote far more weight. This system of representation was designed so states and counties containing more people of color have statistically less influence over our legal process.
The prison system only worsens this disparity. Much of this representational system was designed around slavery: southern states could then have more voting weight due to the large enslaved population, while the enslaved people themselves had no legal rights. This racially-based oppression is continued today through the prison system. The majority of incarcerated people live in metropolitan, diverse counties, but are held in facilities in predominantly white counties. Though incarcerated peoples are unable to vote, their numbers allow said counties to be disproportionately overrepresented. Oftentimes, these votes go directly against incarcerated people’s interests.
The prison industrial system offers a plethora of cruelties and injustices (see the American Prison Writing Archive for first-hand accounts), including inept healthcare, assault at the hands of guards or fellow prisoners, and inhumane punishments such as solitary confinement. The treatment of our most vulnerable population is abhorrent, and should alarm every American citizen. But for our purposes today, how does this pertain to Utica and the larger Oneida County?
Thankfully, New York is one of the few states seeking to decrease their prison population and better their legal and human rights. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, “New York State incarcerates a smaller share of its residents than all but 7 U.S. states”. Despite this encouraging statistic, New York State still imprisons economically disadvantaged communities in NYC and upstate at a far higher rate than more affluent counties. As is the case for the larger country, the state also incarcerates a disproportionate amount of people of color.
As reported by the Empire State of Incarceration, “Overall, in 2020 the jail incarceration rate in Oneida County was 162 per 100,000 people, compared with a statewide average of 101 per 100,000 people. Among New York City and the 57 counties outside the city, Oneida County had the 22nd highest incarceration rate.” This disparity has been targeted recently by a watershed bail reform, in an attempt to combat the role of economic inequality. Despite this, the racial disparity only worsens;
“In Oneida County, 7.1 percent of county residents are Black, but in contrast, on any given day in March 2019, before bail reform, 38 percent of people held in jail in Oneida County were Black. In February 2020, the month after bail reform went into effect, 36 percent of people in jail were Black, and in June 2020, after COVID-19 policies and practices had been in effect for several months, 40 percent of people in jail in Oneida County were Black.” (Vera Institute of Justice)
So, what can be done? Though I stand by the old adage, ‘knowledge is power’, action is needed to achieve reform. There are a number of organizations in and around Utica dedicated to combating systemic incarceration and governmental abuses. The Releasing Aging Persons in Prison Campaign (RAPP) is led by ‘formerly incarcerated people and family members of people in prison’. RAPP works tirelessly to end mass incarceration, focusing on the release of aging people and incarcerated peoples suffering under long sentences. RAPP’s current campaigns include clemency and parole justice. In short, their work centers around empathy and rehabilitation. Becoming a member of the organization, providing monetary donations, and/or attending events can bolster their work, and aid in the fight to protect aging imprisoned peoples.
Another valuable resource within Utica is the Utica Refugee Center. Boasting a history of consistent aid since 1979, through community programs they have tirelessly worked towards their goal of ‘stabilizing the population and the economy’. The Center provides sorely needed services, including but not limited to: adult and child-centered education, language assistance programs, health access, and immigrant and citizenship programs. The positive effect of community revitalization efforts cannot be understated. The Center may appear more tangentially related to combating incarceration rates, but it is one of the few organizations focused on prevention. Legal reforms are vital, but as mentioned, can be incredibly time consuming, and at times ineffective. Reparations must be demanded, but preventative measures can avert suffering entirely.
Staying informed and involved in your community is the lifeblood of social reform movements. The prison industrial complex, and the politicians and private companies that profit from it, depend on your apathy and neutrality. If we allow ourselves to villainize incarcerated peoples as somehow ‘deserving’ of inhumane treatment, we willfully allow their continued oppression. At times, systemic issues can seem overwhelming, and impossible to truly change. Giving up in the face of these daunting statistics is tempting, but ultimately destructive. Whether it’s your time, money, or continued self-education, any efforts to combat the cruelty of the US industrial prison system is appreciated. To that end, please visit some of the amazing organizations previously mentioned. For further involvement, see The New York State Prisoner Justice Network Directory for an in-depth collection of NY organizations working to challenge local and state-wide injustices.
Sources:
- “12 Major Corporations Benefiting from the Prison Industrial Complex.” Malta Justice Initiative, maltajusticeinitiative.org/12-major-corporations-benefiting-from-the-prison-industrial-complex-2/.
- Author(s) E. Ann Carson. “Prisoners in 2021 – Statistical Tables.” Bureau of Justice Statistics, bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2021-statistical-tables#:~:text=The%20report%20describes%20demographic%20and,decrease%20from%202011%20(1%2C599%2C000).
- Barbara Owen and Anna Y. Chan. “Ethnographic Study of the Group Quarters Population in the 2010 Census: Jails and Prisons.” Census.Gov, 8 Oct. 2021, http://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2013/adrm/ssm2013-13.html.
- Di Lenola, , Jose Lauriano. “On the Tiles.” American Prison Writing Archive, 11 Sept. 2023, prisonwitness.org/apwa-essay/on-the-tiles/.
- “Federal Bureau of Prisons.” BOP Statistics: Inmate Race, http://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp.
- “How Many Americans Have Been Incarcerated?” Law Offices of Thomas Ehrlich, 1 Feb. 2016, http://www.notguiltynj.com/how-many-americans-have-been-incarcerated/#:~:text=And%203%25%20of%20the%20population,compare%20to%20more%20peaceful%20countries. Accessed 07 Dec. 2023.
- Ie Tae O Naeaion February 2021 Oneida County – Vera Institute of Justice, http://www.vera.org/downloads/nys-jails-fact-sheets-2021/oneida_2021-02-10-205724.pdf.
- Initiative, Prison Policy. “Where People in Prison Come from: The Geography of Mass Incarceration in New York.” Where People in Prison Come from: The Geography of Mass Incarceration in New York | Prison Policy Initiative, http://www.prisonpolicy.org/origin/ny/2020/report.html.
- “Many Cultures. One Community.” The Center, http://www.thecenterutica.org/.
- PRB, http://www.prb.org/.
- “Prison Labor.” Tufts University Prison Divestment, sites.tufts.edu/prisondivestment/prison-labor/.
- “Rapp Campaign.” RAPP Campaign, rappcampaign.com/.
