DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND CRIMINALIZATION

BY STUDENT

During the 1970s, drug abuse was declared a public enemy by former President Nixon, which was the start of the infamous war on drugs.  The intention of the war on drugs was to have a zero tolerance attitude toward any possession and use of any illegal substance in the United States.  The war on drugs was implemented to protect the nation from illegal drug abuse and to punish those responsible for distributing them.  However, it can be argued that this ‘war on drugs’ was one of the examples of deindustrialization and criminalization of people of color in the United States.  Although the war on drugs was decades ago, it still remains relevant in today’s society especially regarding the topics of deindustrialization and criminalization.  In places like my neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, the evidence of criminalization against people of color is relevant the same as it was during the war on drugs decades prior.  

According to Gilmore, the stem of deindustrialization and criminalization is what is called the Prison Fix.  The Prison Fix explains the idea that during the 1970s, there was such a high surplus of capital in the nation’s budget, which proposed the idea to build prisons in underpopulated areas.  This building in the underpopulated areas was such a good investment in the eyes of the capital because now with this investment, more money will come out of the land than what was put in.  With the building of jails and prisons, new commodities will be introduced to this underpopulated area.  The building of jails will bring new jobs for people in surrounding areas, thus creating more residents in the area which increases the value of the area. Also, local towns will increase in tourism bringing more money to small businesses and communities.  Overall, these building of jails and prisons would bring a lot of positive results in these underpopulated areas.  But before all this could have begun, the prison needed one main component to start running: prisoners.  This is where the issues begin. 

The government wants to portray the prison system as a system of rehabilitation and protection against criminals of all types of offense backgrounds from the functioning community.  However, some evidence can make one question the true motives behind the building and running of jails and prisons in the United States.  According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 1978-1988, the population of State Prison Inmates went from 300,000 to 600,000.  By 2000, the rate was almost at 1,200,000!  However, with such a high jump in prison population, criminal activity seems to have been declining during these years.  How is this possible? This stems the idea of criminalization.  The need for prisoners in these newly built prisons brought about harsher sentences for drug offenses ranging from 2-10 or more years for small drug offences.  And the racial demographic of the majority of the arrestees during this time: people of color, mainly African American males.  Why you may ask?  Many factors could include the socio-economic status as well as low educational attainment.  It can be argued that low socio economic status and lead to a higher tendency to commit crimes.  If someone is charged for a crime, even a small offense charge, the lack of educational attainment could possible make the one charged not aware of certain rights they possess, such as the right to remain silent or the right to an attorney, even if they cannot afford one.  Because of these factors, it is easy to over charge people in this demographic, thus the high prison rates of people of color.  Sadly, this only creates the never ending cycle in communities like Brooklyn, New York where this is prevalent.  So many children are growing up without their fathers in their lives, not because of abandonment, but for being incarcerated. This lack of male role models in communities such as this has been shown to lead to high crime rates among the youth in this community, thus having this cycle continue.  That is why the “war of drugs” and the deindustrialization and criminalization has such an impact on today’s society.  It is important that the country takes a look at their policies and realize that the capitalist functioning of our society it not benefiting us as whole, but only the very few and wealthy.  It is important to help all in society, no matter the race, socioeconomic status or other factor but just as human beings.