Race and Felon Disenfranchisement
By Faith Avery (Written December 2, 2018)
The true causes and effects of mass incarceration are blurred by rhetoric. There are too many opinions saying that black and brown people wouldn’t be incarcerated if they worked hard enough and stopped putting themselves in compromising situations. There are other voices that say that mass incarceration isn’t an issue because it is necessary to keep a handle on crime. That without a prison system, our pristine society would derail into a godless wasteland. Even more, some people don’t even acknowledge the prison system at all simply because it is not a part of their day to day reality. Mass incarceration has never affected them, directly or indirectly, and it never will because they are not targeted by the system. Amidst all these varying voices and opinions, there are two researchers who have drawn their own conclusion about the causes and effects of mass incarceration, mainly, what the primary social problem of mass incarceration. Jeremy Travis believes that the main social problem of mass incarceration is invisible punishment while Michelle Alexander believes that the main social problem of mass incarceration is mass incarceration itself. I will approach Jeremy Travis’ chapter: “Invisible Punishment: An Instrument of Social Exclusion” from Marc Mauer’s and Meda Chesney-Lind’s Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment and Michelle Alexander’s chapter: “The New Jim Crow” from her book The New Jim Crow by analyzing their research on what they believe to be the main social problem caused by mass incarceration. Ultimately, I believe the main social problem of mass incarceration to be the racial disparities of felon disenfranchisement.
As previously stated, Jeremy Travis concludes that the main social problem caused by mass incarceration is invisible punishment, which is inhibited by collateral consequences. Travis structures his argument by assessing the context and consequences of invisible punishment, explaining what invisible punishment looks like today, analyzing its implementation and impact, analyzing the contradictions of invisible punishments, and suggesting how invisible punishment can be fixed or at the very least, lessened to not create such a strong and lasting effect on today’s society. Travis discusses that invisible punishment begins when the system and public society begins to socially exclude ex-offenders by limiting their access to basic needs such as housing and welfare. By limiting these interconnected aspects of life, this most heavily impacts the poor and the criminality (not necessarily those that are inherently criminal, but those who may become criminal because of their limited and restrictive environment). Travis is correct to argue that collateral consequences (also referred to as collateral sanctions) are a major social problem surrounding mass incarceration. Ex-offenders are often barred from their families as incarceration is enough to legally petition for divorce or revocation of custody over a child. With no access to a support system, ex-convictions are left to fend for themselves and re-integrate into society. This is difficult to do as finding work is difficult because of their criminal record. Without a source of income, they are then barred from necessities such as housing and education. Because they have no income, ex-incarcerated individuals cannot afford college or qualify for loans. Along with no access to necessities, they are also barred from a highly valued citizenship action; they are not allowed to vote. This means they have no say in the policies that directly affect them, nor are they allowed to appoint and elect people that have the potential to improve their lives. Collateral consequences, Travis assesses, are a result of a long history of punishment, mostly through the war on drugs, and the lack of acknowledgment of the impact of punishment. To fix the problem of invisible punishment, or at least lessen the blow, Travis suggests that we first begin with acknowledging that invisible punishment is an issue, allowing the crime to match the conviction, and providing avenues to ex-convicts to minimize their punishment after incarceration, and changing our attitudes to better embrace the idea of reintegrating the ex-incarcerated into society.
Though Michelle Alexander acknowledges collateral consequences as a social problem of mass incarceration, she believes it to be a small part of a whole. The true problem is the system itself. Alexander begins her chapter by analyzing that part of the problem is the state of denial that both the public and the system is in. She supports her argument by pulling from Stanley Cohen’s State of Denial, who says that denial can be a state of knowing and not knowing all at once (such as knowing incarceration is an issue, but not knowing how it impacts everyday society) and this denial is facilitated by persistent racial segregation, politics, and media (Alexander 177). Alexander urges us to view the system in its entirety to really understand how race and mass incarceration function in society. She, like Travis, acknowledges that the war on drugs is still a key player in today’s prison system and breaks down the entrapment of black and brown bodies into three stages: Roundup (surveillance), Conviction, and Invisible Punishment (she uses Travis’ argument to support this point) (Alexander 180–181). Alexander continues through the chapter saying that this racially charged environment is nothing new and its products are simply a new Jim Crow that is more difficult to dismantle as race isn’t the center of policies and attitudes, but it is the very thing that disenfranchises black and brown people. Though she draws many connections between incarceration and Jim Crow, she is careful to dissect the differences to emphasize that mass incarceration is simply the Jim Crow of its time and meant to serve the agendas of today, rather than the 1960’s. Unlike Travis, Alexander doesn’t create a grand five-step list to fix some of the social problems of mass incarceration. She instead, acknowledges the pros and cons that come along with trying to fix the issue, especially as it relates to black people and draws from Leonard Bennett Jr.’s quote: “a nation is a choice”, suggesting that ultimately, the system won’t change until we address the problem at its core (206). To fix the nation requires the elimination of race as a construct and all the systems that have come into existence as a result of the construct. Fixing a nation truly calls not only for a change of attitude, but a change in social, economic, and political practices. Both Jeremy Travis and Michelle Alexander create valid arguments as to what is the main social problem plaguing our current society. Travis is valid in believing that invisible punishment through collateral sanctions and consequences is the main social problem in our society as it heavily impacts politics, especially in the judicial sector, as well as economics. However, Alexander creates a more complete argument because the social problem is not just invisible punishment but race itself.
As per my thesis, I believe that the main social problem of mass incarceration is the racial disparities of felon disenfranchisement.
Race is an issue not just because it creates massive disparities in felony disenfranchisement, but because it drives our interactions with people and determines our outlook on the lives of others. Because black and brown people are negatively represented and portrayed in society, our immediate impression of black and brown people is negative, whether it be conscious or unconscious. They’re seen as inherently criminal, lazy, or negligent, so their problems are not seen as a product of marginalization, but rather of race itself. Incarceration and the collateral consequences that follow are then considered a race issue. If society does not take the time to acknowledge how the government marginalizes black and brown people, overly surveils black and brown communities, and limits access to quality education, housing, and employment, we will never solve the problem of incarceration. We must acknowledge that though race is not at the root of incarceration laws and government policies, not every race is impacted by these implementations equally.
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https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/404890/prison-inherited-trait/
