Absurd Comments
Last semester I took a class that turned out to be incredibly more difficult than I expected initially. The final paper dragged on so long that by the time I finished, I honestly didn't care much about it either way. It wasn't the topic of the paper, Black Feminism and the missing
discourse on sexual assault, but rather how the professor kept
nitpicking and giving me helpful pointers I didn't necessarily ask for. I recently received the physical copy of the paper, graded, with comments included. One comment in particular struck me so much almost literally lost my mind. The section around her comment focused on the demonization of Black female would-be rape victims, in particular Joan Little, who stood up for their right to self-respect and ending up killing their attackers.
Her comment read: "In prison I'm not sure anyone is innocent."
Last semester I also took a class on gender violence and criminalization and learned quite a bit about the carceral state. When I read her comment, I started screaming. This isn't one of those instances in which someone says "lol" but if you could see them at home, they'd have a straight, expressionless face. Oh no, I actually started screaming, loudly. Because the absurdity of this comment is enough to make me wonder how this intelligent woman is a professor at all. Your comment would lead one to assert that everyone currently incarcerated is guilty and thereby deserves to be in prison.
You do not take into consideration the women who are in prison simply for protecting themselves or their children from attackers and abuser. From their wife-beating husbands, from rapists who would have used that woman's body to ruin her entire life.
You do not take into consideration the women imprisoned who weren't even involved in the drug trafficking of their husbands but simply lived in the same house.
You do not take into consideration the men who were set-up by malicious enemies.
You do not take into consideration the systemic oppression and disadvantages placed on people of color specifically within this country, giving them so few options they see or have no other choice but to commit a crime.
You do not take into consideration the vast number of mentally ill prisoners who should really be housed in mental health institutions but since the country has shut down so many and the only ones left are privately owned and much to expensive for the every-day man, prison is the best hope of mental health care those imprisoned can get. They didn't do anything wrong to land themselves where they are in the first place, let alone be found guilty of something.
You do not take into consideration the number of transsexual and homosexual sex workers who chose their line of work and are being criminalized for it.
You do not take into consideration the number of transsexual and homosexual prisoners who acted in self-defense against bigoted violent attackers, too narrow-minded to accept gender does not have poles but rather is a sliding scale.
You do not take into consideration the youth whose parents called the police on them simply because they themselves could not bring their own children to heel and were unwilling to work to understand them.
There are so many things you do not take into consideration it saddens me to know you feel this way. This sentiment is the reason we have a carceral state, not just because the name rolls off the tongue well (it doesn't). I mean, have you watched 13th? Because you should. After that, watch the Frontline documentary The New Asylums. After that you can watch this short on the Hutton Family Detention Center and see what it's like to be an illegal immigrant detained and stuck in-between in this country. And finally, if you still need convincing, read the entire Captive Genders anthology. Then maybe we'll talk.
You are being close-minded if you feel every single person currently, or ever, incarcerated, deserves to be in such a place and I could not disagree with you more.
Her comment read: "In prison I'm not sure anyone is innocent."
Last semester I also took a class on gender violence and criminalization and learned quite a bit about the carceral state. When I read her comment, I started screaming. This isn't one of those instances in which someone says "lol" but if you could see them at home, they'd have a straight, expressionless face. Oh no, I actually started screaming, loudly. Because the absurdity of this comment is enough to make me wonder how this intelligent woman is a professor at all. Your comment would lead one to assert that everyone currently incarcerated is guilty and thereby deserves to be in prison.
You do not take into consideration the women who are in prison simply for protecting themselves or their children from attackers and abuser. From their wife-beating husbands, from rapists who would have used that woman's body to ruin her entire life.
You do not take into consideration the women imprisoned who weren't even involved in the drug trafficking of their husbands but simply lived in the same house.
You do not take into consideration the men who were set-up by malicious enemies.
You do not take into consideration the systemic oppression and disadvantages placed on people of color specifically within this country, giving them so few options they see or have no other choice but to commit a crime.
You do not take into consideration the vast number of mentally ill prisoners who should really be housed in mental health institutions but since the country has shut down so many and the only ones left are privately owned and much to expensive for the every-day man, prison is the best hope of mental health care those imprisoned can get. They didn't do anything wrong to land themselves where they are in the first place, let alone be found guilty of something.
You do not take into consideration the number of transsexual and homosexual sex workers who chose their line of work and are being criminalized for it.
You do not take into consideration the number of transsexual and homosexual prisoners who acted in self-defense against bigoted violent attackers, too narrow-minded to accept gender does not have poles but rather is a sliding scale.
You do not take into consideration the youth whose parents called the police on them simply because they themselves could not bring their own children to heel and were unwilling to work to understand them.
There are so many things you do not take into consideration it saddens me to know you feel this way. This sentiment is the reason we have a carceral state, not just because the name rolls off the tongue well (it doesn't). I mean, have you watched 13th? Because you should. After that, watch the Frontline documentary The New Asylums. After that you can watch this short on the Hutton Family Detention Center and see what it's like to be an illegal immigrant detained and stuck in-between in this country. And finally, if you still need convincing, read the entire Captive Genders anthology. Then maybe we'll talk.
You are being close-minded if you feel every single person currently, or ever, incarcerated, deserves to be in such a place and I could not disagree with you more.
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