Yesterday I read that in the United States of America 2,300,000 people are currently incarcerated. The majority of these individuals will be leaving jail or prison some time in the future. But leaving to where?

I would like to begin in stating that I am not advocating for the outright abolition of jail or prison. I simply think we as a society need to consider why we incarcerate people. I strongly believe that incarceration can be used to protect people and property from acts of violence or theft. In working with individuals currently or formerly incarcerated I don't find many of them to be dangerous or threatening. While many have made bad choices in the past, most of the people I I meet are just trying to rebuild their lives now and for the future.

I never heard any of the residents of the Del Valle Jail speak about the validictorian speech they gave at rich kid with expensive car high school or about the summers they spent with their family in that quaint cottage by the lake. It is more common to hear about leaving school in tenth grade to go work or spending the summer in a single bedroom apartment with no air conditioning while taking care of your five younger siblings and not knowing when your sole parent will come home at night. I don't think it is a coincidence that most of the people I met in jail did not recieve a safe and supportive family environment, economic stability or a high school diploma while middle class kids like myself were heading to college, Oh yeah and there's another thing that many of the people in jail don't have: white skin.

The following question has been asked by social scientists, activists, corrections workers and concerned citizens. Why is there so much racial disparity in our Jails and prisons? Why are African Americans and Hispanics overly represented in the prison/jail population? I think we could start with two possible, yet divergent assumptions. The first premise would be that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be criminals than other racial/ethnic/cultural groups. As this idea is both racist and intellectually indefensible I would like propose a second possibility. Even though our counry has made many ethical gains, perhaps society, the media and the justice system are still capable of expressing an unwarranted amount of hostility and prejudice towards African Americans and Hispanics. I don't know or really care what the reasons for this are. After all prejudice is prejudice and racism is racism.

But for now I would like to return to an earlier question. What will these individuals be returning to upon their release? I becoming incarcerated many lose their jobs and their incomes. Without help and support from people outside of the prison/jail, inmates will soon lose their housing, transportation and all worldly possessions. Many will have extreme difficulty obtaining housing and employment with their conviction history. The fact is that in this country where a majority of the citizens describe themselves as Christians, people who have been incarcerated are not allowed back into society, even after the completion of their sentence. If we are not ready to give them a chance to obtain housing or employment after paying for the crime they were convicted of, then there really is no justice.

You have been generous in reading this so far, but now I would like to ask you another favor. If you discover that someone you are speaking to is been in jail or prison, please don't automatically assume that they are dangerous or untrustworthy. Treat them just like anyone else you meet. If you know about a job opening that would hire someone with a conviction history and you think this person would be a good fit, let them know. If you are aware of a conviction friendly housing opportuinity and you think this person would make a good tennant, tell them about it. If we can treat the people we meet with kindness instead of prejudice then we can have true justice.

James Noblitt 5/8/09