Prison reform isn’t about us against them. About two weeks ago, Governor Cuomo announced he’s moving to shut down three prisons in New York State, which would save 10s of millions in tax dollars, but the corrections officers union is in an uproar over this. Their chief complaint is that closing the prisons would devastate the local economies in which they are located, but the facts are that crime is at a historic low and the prison population is decreasing.
Look, I’m a prisoner, and thus I’m not a fan of prisons, especially since I’ve witnessed so much corruption behind these walls and see firsthand how racism plays a major part in mass incarceration. Just look, most prisons are built, in New York, in white rural communities and staffed mostly by white guards, civilian staff, and administrators, but populated by Black and Hispanic prisoners who come mostly from urban communities, particularly the five boroughs of New York City. Despite all of this, I don’t want to see any upstate community devastated economically. I’m from upstate. The question of prison reform, however, shouldn’t be an us against them issue between white communities and Black and Hispanic communities, or between upstate and downstate. After all, we are one New York, and so we need to seek solutions that benefit us all, but to keep prisons open, that aren’t needed, to maintain public safety simply to subsidize local economies is not only morally wrong, but it’s also wrong from a public policy standpoint.
Consider this: I once had a conversation with a correction guard who seemed very depressed and unhappy at being investigated for abusing a prisoner who was mentally retarded. Since there were a few of us prisoners who witnessed what he was doing, that were going to give statements against him, he seemed genuinely worried when he pulled up at my cell one day and struck up a conversation with me. He told me how he really didn’t like his job. So I asked him, “Why wouldn’t you just go back to school to do something else?” His exact words were, and I quote, “I just don’t feel like doing nothing different.”
The truth is that our economy is changing and mass incarceration is immoral. We have no choice but to change and do something different. It is good crime is down and the prison population is decreasing. Instead of complaining about the closing of prisons, the correction officers union should focus on helping correction guards make the transition to professions that complement prison reform and rehabilitation and crime prevention, if, as they say, they are committed to public safety. This is Dontie S. Mitchell, better known as Mfalme Sikivu reporting to you from Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, New York. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram at Free Dontie Mitchell, share your questions and comments. Thank you for listening and God bless.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
