The Prison Industrial Complex operated in the United States of America has been described by many as an improvised or modernized slave labor system. Other quarters actually describe the prison industrial complex as a modern slavery technique as not only are prisoners subjected to dehumanizing conditions, they are also made to do jobs that are out of this world. It has been a gradual process from the days of the infamous plantations to the era of penitentiary and most recent prison reform that gave birth to the prison industrial complex.
Even with the population of the United States being just 5% of the world population, the country apparently has 25% of the world’s prisoners and this underlines the shout against mass imprisonment of people especially with the trend tilting towards the black population. It is no wonder the hashtag #EndMassIncarceration seems to be on the rise on the different social media networks. People online have been using the social sites like Nterestin.com to have a LIVE group discussion about how they can either bring more awareness to the problem or end it all together. Even recording Artist John Legend has come against the prison industrial complex, stating “We live in the most incarcerated county in the world; there are more black men under correctional control today than there were under slavery in 1850.”
Organizations or better put, businesses are particularly in the forefront of prison industrial complex concept and the reason for this is not far-fetched. This is so as the system provides a source of cheap and easily accessible labor for anyone and everyone interested. This subsequently leads to the dehumanizing way prisoners are treated by these businesses that pay little or nothing as wages to these laborers.
While they call it inmate labor, what they actually practice is a reinvention of slavery. This is in addition to the already characterized racial profiling prison system that has seen many black African males imprisoned for offenses that could have been resulted in lighter punishments if the skin color was different. Different reasons are attributed for this situation but all boils down to the stereotypic and racial idea. From the war on drugs, to sexual abuse, and such other crimes, the American prison system and law enforcement in general have continuously looked for ways to put more black African males behind bars and subsequently into the modern slavery system.
The matter is even worse when racial profiling and discrimination creeps into the situation where businesses, the system, and even inmates discriminate against black inmates. It is therefore a total system malfunction and dysfunction and the earlier the issue is tackled, the better for everyone as these somewhat unfortunate victims of modern slavery instead of being rehabilitated and becoming better persons after their term, come out with even worse perspective of the world.
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