Fact #1: Prisons Steal From Us
Like enormous police budgets, prisons eat taxpayer dollars while NOT guaranteeing our safety. Instead of money going to crucial resources like mental health services, affordable housing, and education, prisons take our money with limited return.
Fact #2: It’s Not Just Private Prisons
Private prisons aren’t the only facilities with profit in mind. Jails make money by locking people up on a contractual basis with prisons! Laws target Black people so police can make more arrests – to feed the corporatization of mass incarceration.
Fact #3: Prison Itself Is A Reform
Prisons have always targeted us, but some saw them as better than historic forms of lynching and execution. Prisons have evolved over time; the era of mass incarceration began in the ’70s. Changing the face of racism through reform hasn’t saved us.
Fact #4: Prisons Treat Us Like Property
Prison as we know it is directly linked to slavery. Laws like the Black Codes were used following emancipation to re-enslave Black people. Laws like repeat offender laws target us today with the same purpose! We’re still treated as property to exploit.
Fact #5: Prisons Aren’t Working
If prisons worked, the USA would be the safest nation – but it’s not! We’re plagued by mass shootings and gun violence. 20% of people imprisoned WORLDWIDE are in the USA – we incarcerate more people than countries with TRIPLE our population!