Crime is an affliction of humanity, but the cure for this disorder is not the indefinite imprisonment of those infected. The government officials who set the War on Drugs into motion did not reason like this. In fact, the War on Drugs was an intentionally wielded tool cunningly used to subject African Americans and other people of color to the same conditions they had just been freed from.
Throughout American history, African American men have been characterized as horrible, savage, and beastly people. The moment they stopped being slaves, they started to be regarded as criminals. Under the clauses of the 13th Amendment, they meant the same thing anyway.
The people in power, using their “dog whistle politics,” encouraged that image of Black people in the press, and they used it to win elections. The War on Drugs was simply a pipeline to transport Black people from their supposed freedom to absolute subjugation, utilizing them as free labor to make millions of dollars in profit for companies all over America. In that way, the ruling class monetized mass incarceration and intensified the grief of Black people across America.
“3 strikes…you’re out,” and mandatory sentences might have seemed like steps in the right direction in the war against crime, but in the end, they caused more harm than good. The processes of prosecuting crimes were not fair; arrested African Americans were coerced into taking plea deals for crimes that they were often innocent of, juries were biased because of racial differences, and the judge could not make rulings based on the context of the crimes. In addition to this, the sentences came without parole, so most convicts were doomed to rot in prison. Those who were eventually released from prison found it extremely difficult to get jobs and rent living spaces because of the blemish on their record.
Restorative practice, rather than mass incarceration or targeting of African Americans and other people of color, is a more effective cure to the crime infestation in the United States. People found guilty of crimes should be put on a path to realization of their wrongdoings and how to pay their debt to their society based on the extent of their crimes. After this process, they should be reinserted into society with the expectation that they become better and fully functioning community members.
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This raises important concerns about the history and consequences of the War on Drugs. The mention of politics/press painting people of color a certain way goes to show how much this truly was a War on People, beyond its initial crime and drug stance. The suggestion of restorative practices gives hope for a new system that may help and focus on rehabilitation. This perspective is what we need more of for a positive change in the criminal justice system.
The 3 strikes and you’re out policy definitely caused more harm that people originally though. Black people where sent more to prison due to racial biases, and with this new policy the government succeeded in maintaining them in prisons. I definitely agree as well that prisons should be places to restore a person, so that eventually they can be restored in society. Humans are not meant to be locked up in tiny cages for their entire lives.