I’m in Pennsylvania state prison Phoenix. Here’s the title of my essay: “Are we as a nation aware that domestic violence is the national character of a larger violence against humanity?”
As I write this essay, there are threats of war against other nations from our president and other politicians believe are worthy of losing their lives because of disobeying their control over their war machine.
I wonder, is this threatening indication that domestic violence and international violence is a philosophy? Today our country has taken the position that Korea and Iran may very well be attacked by United States military in order to destroy their military development of a nuclear weapon.
These small nations are no threat to America: a child when comparing the advancement of massive destructive weapons we have that no nation would imagine attacking America. Is that our thirst for domination and control out of control? I remember for decades we’ve been taught at school that Russia and other people around the world were our enemies, and we should always be ready to see bombs drop on us.
Perhaps this national diet of fear inflicted upon the young mind of every child in America has produced a war-hungry nation. The men who now rule the decisions of war and death are senior citizens. Were we born warmongers? The last hundred years revealed the dangerous experiences that human beings have been existing under. Despite the international world wars and the millions of lives lost to Korea, Vietnam, and Second World War, and other wars that the American public did not know about, there have strong evidence this military nation’s violence has become a civilian homeland disease.
Domestic violence means an infliction of injury by one family or household member. Soldiers coming back from war have a high rate of domestic violence. Police officers, guards, all suffer from trauma related to their jobs in violence.
Women who are arrested are seen as dangerous offenders and sentenced to prison to suffer additional gender oppression. Many of the prison servants are ex-military women and men. It is plausible that the female and male prisoners are the unfortunate targets of further abuse, both physically and mentally.
A review of the instant nomination of a new justice to the Supreme Court is an excellent example of the inability of those in power to accept the violence against women. There is an additional element to violence against women. If the person accused of the violence is a well-connected Caucasian male, the charges will most likely be rejected. If there are not reliable witnesses, the charges will never reach a police investigation. The idea of the prosecutor bringing charges is never on the agenda.
Let us be reminded this illustration of who goes to prison, who are privileged to continue their crimes, there is a lesson that there is no equality under the law. There was also different levels of freedom for women and men, blacks and whites. It is important that we begin a new discussion [inaudible] entirely new system, which includes all citizens, not just white men who control all wealth. Until we establish systems and concepts that include all human beings. We may never see a world free from gender and racial violence and international violence. The abused must first admit character of the system is violence. At that point, we could rebuild another character.
Thank you very much.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
