“Prison abolition” was the key phrase in black rights activist Angela Davis’ speech last night in Newcomb Hall.
Davis spoke before a large, impassioned crowd about the injustices of the American prison system in culmination of this week’s symposium, “The Problem of Punishment: Race, Inequality, and Justice.”
During her speech, Davis argued that the “problem of punishment” is manifested in America’s flawed prison system, which, she said, ironically was originally intended to “allow people to reform and transform themselves”. Davis sharply criticized the loss of prisoners’ voting rights during incarceration as well as the cycle of violence created by the imprisonment of violent offenders and capital punishment.
Davis also attributed the “vastly disproportionate representation of black people in prison” to racism, arguing that while all communities have comparable levels of crime, because black communities encounter much harsher police surveillance, more black people are incarcerated than white people. Davis noted that black Americans are currently in a “process of collectively empowering ourselves” after a long period of historical oppression.
Also during her speech, Davis focused on drug arrests and the alleged criminalization of young black men, noting that the war on drugs “has always been a racist war.” She also cited a need for justice for imprisoned women, homosexuals and members of other oppressed groups.
After Davis’ presentation, African-American Affairs Dean Maurice Apprey said Davis’ opinions are universally applicable in today’s political climate, in which a once stable world with clearly defined racial and sexual boundaries and classifications has become very unstable.
Racism’s “transgressive elements speak to all of us,” Apprey said, adding that he considers Davis’ views as a “a modern conversation that sort of represents the change from ... modern to post-modern.”
About Davis’ vision of the American prison system, Apprey said it is a utopian one that could destroy the prison system as it is known today. Davis sees the current system as one that re-enacts the slave system. Moving forward, she said, authorities should seek “more productive modes of addressing harm” to solve the underlying problems that result in criminal behavior.
Apprey said he believes that issues of racial equality, such as those included in Davis’ speech last night, should be matters of importance for all University community members.
“It is my hope that racial issues will become everybody’s problem,” he said, adding that he wants the conversation among racial groups to resemble a discussion in which “my concern is your concern, your concern is my concern.”
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