Today I went to prison. I spent time behind chain fences and razor wire, roaming freely with convicted murderers, rapists and other criminals, and occasionally taking a pause to look out through the chain fences into the vast open acreage surrounding me. Today I was at The Farm. Angola has 18,000 acres, 6300 offenders, and 1 rodeo. Once you get past the first gate the views are spectacular. Open fields for farming and live stock go as far as your eyes can see. Hundreds of inmates roam freely through the rodeo grounds selling goods that they have made. Others stand in a giant pen, separated by a fence, selling their goods. When I looked at the pieces of art and craftsmanship all I could see was time. At first glance it is the time put into each piece, and then the reflection of the time the have to make each piece. Years and years of time for each person. In more than several cases people have a lifetime, and sometimes more than one lifetime. These are the sentences given for criminals lucky enough to not receive the death penalty. I watched today as people walked past these inmates, incapable of making eye contact, incapable of acknowledging the fact they simply said Hello. How are you today?, and incapable of remembering that monstrous acts were committed by human beings. Selling handmade goods for a few hours a day at discounted rates is the best shot these inmates have a normal day. It is a few hours a day for people to have casual conversation with other human beings, and for the lucky ones, to spend a little extra time with family members. Is this truly the joke that we as a society have made of reform? How can we expect people to behave like productive members of civilian society when we can not treat them like human beings? Aside from the homophobic jokes the rodeo clowns made, the rodeo activity is very disheartening. I did not go to a real rodeo today. Having people stand in hula hoops while raging bulls charge them is not a rodeo. Being the last man standing while a raging bull throws other inmates into the air all to have some commissary money is not a rodeo sport. Today I saw inmates, people... Human beings... With years to lifetimes of time to serve, exploited for being in the position of having nothing left to lose. All of this in the name of sport. Visiting civilians are given the opportunity to don cliché prison stripes and have a novelty picture taken in a makeshift prison cell - all the meanwhile making a mockery of the inmates working their craft tents, that just made the goods they just purchased. Is this truly how we treat people? Are we a forgiving society? I urge everyone to go to the rodeo with open eyes and open minds. I urge everyone that goes to not forget that these inmates are incarcerated for the, sometimes violent and macabre, crimes they have committed, but to remember that these people are still human beings.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 03:34:09 +0000
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