Topic B: Color of Mass Incarceration

Hello Delegates,

There are less than 2 weeks left until BMUN 70, and I am so excited to meet you all! I wanted to share with you all an article about Mass Incarceration to refresh your knowledge as we are approaching conference. Here is a brief summary of the article and the full article is attached below.

When taking even the most basic look at the United States Criminal Justice System it is apparent that something is fundamentally wrong. Despite making up just 4% of the world’s population, we imprison 25% of the world’s incarcerated people. Thus, mass incarceration is defined by the historically extreme rates of imprisonment and by the concentration of incarceration among the most marginalized. Yet, in usage, the term mass incarceration tends to extend beyond the high level of imprisonment itself. Since mass incarceration is intrinsically connected to the relationship between the prison system and the American ghetto, the unique social, cultural and political impacts of this relationship are often included in discussion. 

The main concern of the “Color of Mass Incarceration” is that the racial disparity found in incarceration is the result of a racist criminal justice system that is unfairly punitive towards people of color and perpetuates mass incarceration. Within the estimated 2.3 million Americans held in federal, state, and local prisons, a glaring almost 1 million of them are African American, making the African American incarceration rate 6 times that of white Americans. Given that African Americans make up only 12% of the United States population, but, together with Latinos, comprise over 60% of total inmate population, it makes sense that there are a greater number of incarcerated African Americans today than in South Africa at the height of apartheid. 

There appears to be an indirect or even direct correlation between mass incarceration and the issue of drug usage among African Americans. The “War on Drugs” began as a “crackdown” on the drug dealers and drug abusers; however, statistics reflect that there is a disparity in drug sentencing that has provided a correlation to the number of African Americans being incarcerated. As one of the “three pillars” of institutionalized racism that has created a “racial caste system” in society, which is primarily driven by politics, not crime, mass incarceration is an extremely destructive part of American society.

After President Obama was elected president in 2008 many predicted we entered a “post-racial” era, yet mass incarceration continued to increase under his term. According to the noted author, Michelle Alexander, “More African Americans are under correctional control today, in prison, jail, or probation, or on parole-than were enslaved in 1850 before the Civil War began.”

It also pays to mention that African American women also have a disproportionate level of incarceration, causing a significant increase in the number of children given birth in prison. Additionally, studies into the injustice in the justice system reveal that the number of women incarcerated has increased by 800 percent over the last three decades.

With such high incarceration rates, you’d expect for African Americans to represent a proportionally large number of offenders in violent offenses as well. Yet, a majority of African Americans are incarcerated for non-violent charges, primarily drug related offenses.While the war on drugs has a high correlation to the number of people of color being incarcerated it is understood that this is the only factor contributing to mass incarceration.

With this information in mind, think about how your Senator would react to the data introduced here. Give the full article a read and consider possible policy options your Senator would take to address these issues, how those options could affect their reelection chances, and if there is any possibility of bipartisanship in their plan to address mass incarceration. Also to get your brain thinking critically,  looking at the data presented by this article, what is the connection between race and incarceration and how does it impact minority communities? Comment your thoughts down below!