DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND CRIMINALIZATION

THE FATE OF RACE WITHIN A PRISON SYSTEM

BY ZM

Have you ever walked into a space; a store, a school, or even your neighborhood, and felt the weight of a racial stigma that “defines” you? Have you felt that no matter what you did, the color of your skin would always play an effective roleinto the ongoing oppression that impacts people of color today. Throughout the course of American history, people of color, specifically African Americans, have been negatively subjected to a social structure that has an interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, sex, class, and many more. This infrastructure of inequality takes on a clear distinctive demographic; a demographic that correlates mainly to people of color, and is then implemented within the United States prison system. In this blogpost, I will argue with the conditions of the American prison system and the barbaric operations towards African Americans and reveal the question of why African Americans are more likely to end up in prison than a White American?

Growing up in New York City as an Afro Latino male, I have seen this structural inequality in the relation between police enforcement and young African Americans. Statistically, the United States is known to have the largest prison population of any developed nation. Our prison systems were created for the justification of punishing a person for their crimes, but what happens when our prisons become corrupt and wrongfully throw people, specially people of color, in jail for false judgments and racial ignorance and fear? In the article Prison Fixby Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Gilmore illustrates how “black youth were twice as likely as white youths to be arraigned in children court, more likely to be found guilty and were twice as likely to be sentenced to over five year in an institution due to the racial ideologies of inferior and superior figures.(pg. 91)” This corresponds to the actuality of how and why prisons were created; in order to preserve a racial hierarchy that oppresses people of color. A clear representation of this racial hierarchy is perfectly stated in James Baldwin poem A Letter to my Nephew, in which he states “You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity and in as many ways as possible that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence. You were expected to make peace with mediocrity.” With that, institutional racism proceeds to dictate how we live our lives and raise our children, along with dehumanizing people of color with a capitalist infrastructure known as the prison systems.

From unsanitary jail cells, to corrupt correctional officers and even murders, prisons have shown the discriminatory treatment towards inmates. During the start of prisons, many inmates were denied their basic human rights, specifically after the 13th amendment. The 13^thamendment was the abolishment of slavery. This abolishment changed a social economical structure within a capitalist society, which then formed a new one. The adequate life of safety, rehabilitation and healthcare were not met for inmates in prison. For instance, in the chapter Prison Fixby Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Gilmore explains how the “CDC; Center for Disease Control and Prevention, wiped rehabilitation from the books of prison, resulting in many gang violence, mental health issues, and the distrust of liability towards the government.” With the consumption of inmates piling on top of one another at a rapid speed, we understand that there is and always had been, a problem. Instead of teaching inmates a tool to rehabilitate into society, government officials lock them away and treat them like animals, leaving them with? unrepaired damages. Not only do prisons treat their inmates poorly but they have a bias eye for determining who goes to jail and who doesn’t. 

Bibliography:

Baldwin, James, and James Baldwin. “A Letter to My Nephew.” Progressive.org, Progressive.org, 1 Dec. 1962, progressive.org/magazine/letter-nephew/.

GILMORE, RUTH WILSON. GOLDEN GULAG: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California, Second ... Edition. UNIV OF CALIFORNIA Press, 2018.

MUHAMMAD, KHALIL GIBRAN. CONDEMNATION OF BLACKNESS: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, with a New Preface. HARVARD UNIV Press, 2019.

STRUGGLING FOR SPACE, CREATING LATINA/O/X URBAN CULTURES

UNITED VOICES OF THE BORICUAN SOUL

BY STUDENT

Imagine, a hot day in June, as the school year is coming to an end and the second Sunday slowly approaches. You hear the distinct sounds of the Mr. Softee truck and the ring of  bells for snow cones or flavored ice as the vendor yells, “COCO, MANGO, CHERRY, TAMARINDO…”. While all this is happening you hear Marc Anthony’s Vivir Mi Vidadancing through the city streets from cars covered in Puerto Rican pride as the Puerto Rican Day Parade calls for Boricuas far and wide to gather as one. Although their journey started off as trips to New York City via the ships in the early 1800s, they gradually gained a status of stationary citizenship through the Jones Act of 1917.  As New York City, the concrete jungle became campos for many,  their hearts stayed filled with Boricuan pride which also filled their souls, keeping them linked to their island, Puerto Rico. Though Puerto Ricans are citizens, their daily lives and experiences remind them how limited that citizenship is. Leading me to consider, what would nationalism look like for Puerto Ricans? I argue that the Puerto Rican Day Parade amplifies the voices of all Puerto Ricans giving them a chance to express their political agendas while reminding Americans of their citizenship and their presence as a community and support for one another. 

To be Puerto Rican while being a ‘US citizen’ is a complex similar to contextualizing , “what might an ‘alternative society’ be, given the difficulty of defining ‘society’, and given that all such words lose any clear meaning” (Lefebvre 2010, 381).  In relation to what identity is as an ‘US citizen’ and creating an alternate identity which is a limited extension of that being and ‘US citizen’. For Puerto Ricans it would be a limiting factor that silenced them politically but not as a culture as they took to the streets and celebrated their nationality. What is really amazing about this is that though they are a US territory they possessed pride, nationality, and a heart dedicated to everything boricua. We also see that as Puerto Ricans just celebrated their 61st Puerto Rican Day Parade how problematic their citizenship is. For even though Puerto Ricans were acknowledged and able celebrate their nationality before African Americans had a chance to gain Civil Rights. Also happening  before the establishment of ‘radical’ groups like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords. 

In honor of the 61st Puerto Rican Day Parade their hearts were heavy. As Puerto Ricans flooded the streets we saw they mourn their loved ones who where affected by Hurricane Maria during the past September in 2017. Many thought and hoped that the US government would be there to give aid or some sort of assistance to the(ir) people. Instead they found themselves supporting one another, through using the parade to advocate for resources and providing help for those affected by Hurricane Maria. Those who participated in the parade also made sure to send their love to those who lost their lives and reminding the government of their wrongful doing by producing an inaccurate count of lives lost and silencing many by doing so. Their platform stretched from 44th street to 79th street as they, reminded everyone that they are here and that they matter, they as Puerto Ricans represented, ‘One Nation, Many Voices’ (Guse,  2018). This sense of nationalism was also displayed as@chachination, a young Puerto Rican woman on a raft like swing, soaked by the waters while wrapped in a Puerto Rican flag as a dress, sways with the waters and  cries out, , “Campo yo vivo triste/ Cada día sufriendo más/ Ay dios ¿qué será de mi?/ Si no bailo esta bomba voy a morir”. Which translates to “Countryside I live sadly/ Suffering more everyday/ Oh God what will become of me?/ If I do not dance this bomba I will die”. To many this would not have much sentiment or meaning, but to many Puerto Ricans it was a beacon of hope as they were just exposed to the unbearing reality of loss. Many within the island and on the mainland (United States) lost so much due to Hurricane Maria such as their family members/ loved ones, homes, resources, and the beauty known as Puerto Rico. 

Bibliography

@chachination. 2017. Today I want to go back to last friday when I sang to the campo with all my 

heart and swung to the rhythm of the lake. Video File. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BZRAGo9lyhR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Guse, Clayton. 2018. Puerto Rican day parade in nyc: what you need to know. Time Out New York. 

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/puerto-rican-day-parade-in-nyc-what-you-need-to-know-060818

Lefebvre, Henri, and Donald Nicholson-Smith. 2010. The production of space.Malden: Blackwell.

O’Keeffe, Michael. 2018. Cheers, pride, and anger at Manhattan’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.am New 

York.https://www.amny.com/news/puerto-rican-day-parade-2018-1.19104032

Staurt, Tessa. 2018. ‘It should have been a day of mourning’: one activist in sitting out the Puerto 

Rican day parade. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/it-should-have-been-a-day-of-mourning-one-activist-on-sitting-out-the-puerto-rican-day-parade-630206/

STRUGGLING FOR SPACE, CREATING LATINA/O/X URBAN CULTURES

HIP HOP AS A PRODUCTION OF URBAN SPACE

By Student

To many, hip-hop is recognized simply as a genre of music consisting of rhythmic beats and rap. However, hip-hop has proven to be more than just music we listen to, rather it is a lifestyle that can be appreciated in the way one walks, how one talks, or what clothes one wears. Hip-hop, born in Bronx, New York City in the 1970’s, largely developed as a response by low-income minority communities that were displaced and ignored by mainstream America socially, politically, and economically. A part of hip hop’s history stems from the desire of urban builders in the 1950’s to transform Manhattan into a center of wealth. Their execution plan was designed to connect Manhattan with the surrounding boroughs through a vast highway network system, uprooting poor African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Jewish families, and leaving many of them jobless. As Jeff Chang wrote in “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,” If blues culture had developed under the conditions of oppressive, forced labor, hip-hop culture arose from the conditions of no work.” 

At the time, and arguably still today, capitalist America was interested in expanding its revenue, particularly in New York City. One strategy to project profit into the city consisted of building highways that would bridge the surrounding boroughs to Manhattan. Construction of this highway system, designed by Robert Moses, bisected the Bronx in half, destroying entire neighborhoods, and resulted in middle-class whites to migrate north to widely-spaced, Levittown suburbs while forcing low-income minority families into crowded, high-rise buildings in underserved locations of South Bronx. As a result of the large displacement, many people also lost their jobs - South Bronx lost nearly 600,000 manufacturing jobs. Consequently, South Bronx saw a rise in poverty, youth violence, and crime all of which were products of deliberate neglect by mainstream society towards low income minority groups. 

Historically, hip-hop has often served as a voice for those normally unheard. Many of the lyrics and images of hip-hop were a reflection of the conditions and emotions people were experiencing. The poor and rough environments were characterized by the language used in the music and were visualized by the accompanying music videos. Take for example, Grandmaster Flash’s song, “ The Message.” In it, he raps, “ It’s like a jungle sometimes. It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under. Broken glass everywhere. People pissin’ on the stairs, you know they just don’t care. Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice.” as he walks down the streets surrounded by run down buildings beside garbage clutter. Here, Grandmaster Flash refers to the city as a “jungle” of concrete buildings crowded with people. He then continues narrating his surroundings when he talks about the broken glass and the people pissing on the stairs. He also briefly refers to his economic situation when says he doesn’t have enough money to move out. Based on hip-hop songs such as Grandmaster Flashs’ “The Message” and considering the circumstances many low-income minority groups were forced into, it becomes apparent that hip-hop music isn’t the cause of cultural violence, rather a result of intentional disregard by a capitalistic American society. 

Bibliography

Chang, Jeff. Can't Stop Won't Stop: a History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Ebury Digital, 2011.

Chatelain, Phillipe Martin. “5 Things in NYC We Can Blame on Robert Moses.” 

            Untapped Cities, 22 Jan. 2019, untappedcities.com /2013/12/18/5 -things-in-nyc-

            we-can-blame-on-robert-moses/.

STRUGGLING FOR SPACE, CREATING LATINA/O/X URBAN CULTURES

BY C.G. 

New York City— The concrete jungle where dreams are made of—is my home. With its immense buildings, bright city lights and people everywhere, my home city takes pride in recognizing, that it is in fact, “the city that never sleeps”. Being from Uptown, NYC—the culture around me reinforces that of my motherland: The Dominican Republic. With patelitos (Dominican empanadas) being sold in almost every bakery and habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans) becoming a holiday pick-up tradition, it is apparent that my culture is on the rise. But… how did Dominicans embrace the creation of space in NYC after all? 

February is Dominican Heritage month—concluding on Feb. 27 with Dominican Independence Day. Many U.S. Dominicans streak this month with the remembrance of their motherland’s independence from Haiti. Being that more than half of the Dominicans living in the United States were not born here, compared to 35 percent of Latinos overall—it is truly compelling the amount of vigorous Dominican space that reside in NYC; of that nearly half of those who immigrated have been in the United States for more than 20 years. Yeah, that’s about right! Could you believe that the Dominican population has grown so fast that it has surpassed the Puerto Rican population. According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey— there are about 747,000 Dominicans and 714,000 Puerto Ricans in the U.S. 

Although, I’m sure assimilation in the United States probably wasn’t the easiest. In the early 1900s, many Dominicans faced prejudice, especially from other Latina/o/x groups. This intermediate conflict limited opportunities for Dominicans ranging from living spaces to job opportunities—many stereotypes, set them back. Like “Newcomers in the city of Los Angelees” by George Sanchez—in which referenced Mexicans ascertaining themselves in groups, Dominican Newcomers in the Big Apple, began establishing themselves in large groups—essentially creating large ethnic communities in which still are very much potent, with the same energy today. Today, places like Washington Heights are notorious for preserving Dominican heritage. Selling patelitos @ almost every corner en El Auto Manhattanand bodegas owned by Dominican entrepreneurs, blasting Anthony Santos’ bachata in the background as you shop for platanos with “3 FOR $1” signs behind them—that influx of Dominican-ness in areas like Wash-Heights validate that although Dominicans struggled with creating space—the power of perseverance and hustle—helped overcome milestones and are still evidently prevalent, in my life today. 

Sources:

Sanchez, George. "Newcomers in the city of Los Angelees"

US Census Bureau. "American Community Survey (ACS)." Census Bureau QuickFacts. January 

31, 2019. Accessed February 11, 2019. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/.

URBAN MIGRATIONS AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY

BY STUDENT

Latino/a/x migration was considered a major concept within the United States in the early 20thcentury. Latinos from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and more migrated to parts of the United States like California, Texas, and New York. Latin migration during the early 20thcentury exposed certain areas of the United States to different ideas of culture which includes, linguistics, art, food, music, and much more. However, when these migrants first arrived, life was not easy. I would really like to focus on a specific minority-majority group, Puerto Ricans. A majority of Puerto Ricans migrated to New York City for many reasons. Commodity trade between Puerto Rican and Anglo colonists accounted for the presence of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Push factors emerged which also accounted for the presence of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Some push factors included revolutionary unrest and Puerto Rico’s economic shift towards coffee production. The question is, why did Puerto Ricans struggle for space in New York City in the early 20thcentury? In this blogpost I argue that Puerto Ricans had a difficult time adjusting to living in New York City. However, as time went on, a lot of opportunities transpired for the Puerto Rican population.

Post-World War II (1945), the wealthier and white veteran population had an advantage over Puerto Ricans. The wealthy and white veteran population had residential choices and could contribute to areas of concentrated poverty. This is the time period where suburbanization of New York City’s boroughs was underway. To make New York City more appealing, city elites began this idea of urban renewal which included the development of public housing. Initially, public housing was not offered to poor people of color. This was one of the main struggles the Puerto Rican population faced. Puerto Ricans came to the United States with the intent on living their dreams, having a better life. At this moment, New York City was one of the cities with the largest Puerto Rican population and this minority group wasn’t even offered the option of public housing, why? Whites who already resided in New York City had their own views, opinions, and stereotypes of Puerto Ricans, they were being discriminated against.

When Puerto Ricans moved to New York City, they accepted any job that they could find, no matter what the pay was, how many days or hours they had to work, or how dangerous that job was. With that being said, Puerto Ricans were now being viewed as docile, obedient, compliant even when exploited. Pedro Pietri wrote a poem, “Puerto Rican Obituary” that touched on some key points regarding how Puerto Ricans were treated and how they were viewed. “They worked They were always on time They were never late They never spoke back when they were insulted They worked They never took days off that were not on the calendar They never went on strike without permission They worked ten days a week and were only paid for five” This proves the point of Puerto Ricans being viewed as docile, compliant, and obedient while being exploited. Throughout this poem, Pietri also touched on points that explained how Puerto Ricans were constantly associated with violence, how they are depicted as poor because it was thought that they would much rather drink, gamble, etc. Puerto Ricans were considered citizens of the United States and were still being discriminated against. However, time went on and things were changing for this population. In the 1950s-60s, public housing went from modeling modern urban housing for whites and nuclear families to being stigmatized. Public housing began to accept Latino tenants, better job opportunities arose for urban and rural work, and New York City started to become a magnet for Puerto Rican culture. Even in today’s time you can travel to the different boroughs of New York City and see how much the Puerto Rican culture impacted the area. There are murals relating to Puerto Rican culture, Spanish Harlem arose in upper Manhattan. Puerto Ricans were now and still are being accepted and respected.

Sources: https://monthlyreview.org/2004/06/01/puerto-rican-obituary/

URBAN MIGRATIONS AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY BARRIOS

The Enduring Community of Buffalo’s Puerto Rican Population

By Student

Buffalo, New York is known as “the Queen City” fore, it is the second most populated city in New York next to New York City, but the queen and the king are very different. As a Buffalo native I find myself embarrassed to inform people that I am from Buffalo. The harsh winters keep all residents vitamin D deficient and miserable. The one fun thing in Buffalo year ‘round to do is eat, and you can tell Buffalo likes to eat by the amazing food you can find and the fact that the obesity rate in children is almost double that of the national average (Davis 2015; stateofobesity.org). The closest thing to a sense of community in Buffalo is the blind obsession they all seem to have with the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres, both teams being equally horrible at their respective sport. Making the conscious choice to live in Buffalo is nearly unbelievable, but despite that I have found in my research that there is a Latinx population in Buffalo. The question that I would like to answer in this post is what does life look like in Buffalo for the Puerto Rican population that lives there? I argue that life in Buffalo is not very promising for people of Puerto Rican descent, but that does not stop them from celebrating their culture and heritage through their strong community.

The Puerto Rican population began immigrating to the buffalo area beginning in the late 19^thcentury as agricultural laborers and industrial workers (from Puerto Rico to Buffalo 2015). At the time, Buffalo was a prominent city that had strong industrial ties with the surrounding region due to its location near the Earie Canal which made the transportation of goods very efficient for the time. For Puerto Ricans entering the United States through New York City, Buffalo would seem to be a good alternative to settling in NYC, which had an influx of Puerto Rican transplants struggling to get by (Sanchez Korrol 1994). The job prospects for Puerto Ricans in Buffalo have not transferred to today, as 49.7% of the population live below the poverty line and 43.8% of the population reporting no earnings in 2015. Some of this can be attributed to the low graduation rate of Puerto Ricans (50%) which is not too far off from the overall graduation rate of Buffalo city schools in 2017 (63%) (From Puerto Rico to Buffalo 2015; Buffalo City School District Graduation Rate Data 4 Year Outcome as of June 2017).

Despite this, the Puerto Rican population is still able to come together and celebrate their cultural ties. The Hispanic Heritage Council of WNY holds the “El Dia del Nino/Day of the Child” every year to preserve and educate children on their heritage. The Puerto Rican and Hispanic Day Parade will be celebrating its 17^thparade this year as they continue to plan events to celebrate their heritage. There are also many other organizations in Buffalo that strive to support and enhance the lives of Puerto Rican residents in Buffalo such as Puerto Rican-American Community Organization that as established in 1969. In a city with little opportunity for upwards mobility it is hearting to know that the Puerto Rican population is still able to come together to lift each other up and remember their culture.

Bibliography:

Davis, Henry L., and Aaron Besecker. “Obesity Rates Trending Upward among Erie County Children.” The Buffalo News, The Buffalo News, 6 Nov. 2015, buffalonews.com/2015/11/06/obesity-rates-trending-upward-among-erie-county-children/.

“The State of Childhood Obesity.” The State of Obesity, stateofobesity.org/childhood/.

“From Puerto Rico to Buffalo.” Partnership for the Public Good, 22 June 2015, https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/data-demographics-history/populations_and_cultural_groups/datademographicshistory-_from_puerto_rico_to_buffalo.pdf

Sanchez Korrol, Virginia E. 1994. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Ch. 2 

“Buffalo City School District Graduation Rate Data 4 Year Outcome as of June” Data.nysed.gov, data.nysed.gov/gradrate.php?year=2017&instid=800000052968.