Memo to the Media: Stop with the Profiles about Athletes Who Have “Rebounded” from Prison
I recently saw an item about athletes who had supposedly “rebounded from incarceration.” I am always so troubled by these types of articles because the underlying assumption is that prison actually does some “good” for people. It does not. I am reminded of a question that I read from a blogger some time ago which asked: “And when will we understand that jail, no matter who's inside, makes nothing better?” This is a question to always keep at the forefront of our minds.
I recently wrote again about Michael Vick, imploring him to stop acting as a pitchman for prisons. That post generated some of the most vitriolic e-mails that I have gotten to date. I mostly received e-mails from irate people suggesting that I was trying to prevent Vick from “telling the truth” about the rehabilitating functions of prison. Apparently, these are people who are very invested in the dominant culture’s lies about the value of prisons. I will tell you something about this. I’ll bet you $100 that if you got Michael Vick away from the TV cameras for 10 minutes, that he would tell a very different tale of his incarceration experience. The man is trying to rebuild a public athletic career and he is looking for redemption from a public that is very invested in prisons. What do we expect him to say in public but prison “changed” me and made me “better?” What if he came out instead and said: “You know what, prison did nothing but teach me to be a better prisoner?” How marketable would he be in the NFL? Sorry people but I know of what I write. I am truly not blaming Vick for this situation. I would like him to refrain from extending the reach of the prison industrial complex. However, I completely understand what he is doing in trying to rebuild his livelihood. Do I wish that he would speak out about the rank racism in the criminal legal system? Of course I do. But will that cost him dearly? Yes.
Some time ago, I saw this poster by info jocks. At the time, I wondered if they even understood how racist this is. I doubted it at the time and still do. The poster depicts an all-criminal lineup of football players. Three guesses as to how many of these are young black men? Do you give up? Out of the 11 members of their all-criminal lineup, 10 are black men and one is white. What does this suggest to you? Critics will suggest that most of the NFL is comprised of black players. This is true. Yet 30% of the NFL is white so you would expect at least three white players represented on the all-criminal lineup, no?
Disproportionate minority contact within the criminal legal system extends to ALL sectors of our society. Even rich black athletes and entertainers are caught within the net of this system. This should provide proof positive to the skeptics of the potency of racism in the criminal legal system.
Uncategorized | prison culture | 01 December 2010 |
By lori cohen, December 2, 2010 @ 8:55 am
I applaud your effort. Have you ever heard of multisystemic therapy? It’s an evidence-based treatment for chronic offenders. It keeps kids in the community, not in prison. Check out their site: http://www.mstservices.com. I would like to know what you think.