Policy + Poverty = Prison

 As I read through the article Law and Order in School and Society: How Discipline and Policing Policies Harm Students of Color, and What Can We Do About It, this statement really summed up all three reading/films for this week, "In the narrow focus on teacher and school-based accountability for test results, they minimize attention to student's social, emotional, mental, and physical health-factors that determine students' academic and life outcomes to a much greater degree than high-stakes sanctions."  This reminds me of last week's discussion on policies. How policies are put into place for so many different reasons, such as legislation, communication, material effects on structures and practices, testing/standards, distribution  of funding, wealth, goods...YET policies more often contribute to the distribution of harms such as toxic practices and toxins. According to the recommendations made in this article, "Policymakers at all levels of educational and social systems MUST design a robust system of support that addresses the many opportunity gaps children of color and low-income families face outside of school... ." This reminds me of Jean Anyon's article which spoke to economic policies needing to "count" as educational policies. We can't continue to fix the inside without addressing the outside conditions as well.  They go hand in hand. At the local level, one recommendation spoke to restorative practice initiatives. Restorative practices emphasizes repairing the harm done to people and relationships rather than punishing offenders. I feel this would be a wise place to start shifting our focus to building relationships with our students while we have them in a positive, safe place. My school district attempted to put this in place about 18 months ago, yet with COVID-19 and the "state takeover", this is not as easy as they thought. The root of the restorative practices evolved from restorative justice in the prisons in the 1970's. They saw it work with some prisoners that wanted to make their wrong right or just forgiven. The same premise could be used for students that get into trouble, at any level. If we, as a system could work together to help these students realize better choices could mean better opportunities. It  will be a long hard path, but worth every minute, every struggle, every student! 

The Netflix documentary "13th" opened with a mind blowing statistic..."The United States is home to 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners." (Barack OBama)

The film spoke to the mass incarceration of brown and black men during the 1970's. During this era, President Nixon was campaigning all about the war on drugs which translated to arresting black/brown people. He could have taken the higher road and made it a health issue. This would have put a positive spin on a negative issue. Although the Civil War ended and slaves were FREE, the U.S. focused on putting African Americans in jail for minor crimes, forcing them to work = free labor to rebuild the south. This was known as "Birth of a Nation" which was clearly a myth. The next era (1980's) had President Reagan who turned a rhetorical war in to a liberal one. He was all about the "Modern War on Drugs". The First Lady coined the very popular phrase "Just say NO". Another popular commercial came out during this time referring to your brain on drugs. This was a very visual image that should have had a lot more impact...but did not! Instead of a reform, a new version of cocaine came out that was very powerful and very affordable. A new target for the urban population, a new way to boost business for the prisons. Prison is a business, if you are in this business...you don't want a reform. "A prison industrial complex refers to the system of mass incarceration and companies that profit from mass incarceration" spoken by Daniel Wagner. I liked this summary of our "systems". "After the collapse of slavery, a new system was born-convict leasing (actually a new form of slavery). Once that faded away- a new Jim Crow system was born that relegated African Americans to a permanent second class status. Decades later, a system of mass incarceration. Riots dating back to 1964 were all a result of police brutality and still continue to be today. Its not about Black Lives Matter, it's about changing how this country understands human destiny.

Neoliberalism is at the root of all our problems. It is a conscious attempt to reshape our lives and shift the power. This ideology has been a common thread through our class. This is what drives our discussions every week. It all began when we had a mass incarceration. This connects to the Ted Talk, "How We're Priming Some Kids For College and Others For Prison." Alice Goffman puts herself right in the heart of a poor urban community in Philadelphia to observe what she can in injustices. She begins to research the happenings of unfair policing on minorities. She speaks about two brothers, Chuck (18 yo) and Tim (11 yo). She witnesses the daily trials and tribulations of a poor urban family struggling to get by. Chuck has a small schoolyard fight that sends him to jail. This begins his journey with police and prison...which ends poorly. Chuck takes his own life at 22. The system failed Chuck and his family. This same scenario would have played out very differently in the suburbs. Which brings me back to policy + poverty = prison.