The Problem With The Prison Umbrella

Slavery ended in December of 1865, but the prison system is still a form of legalized slavery for minorities. The mass incarceration rate is a serious problem in the United States and has only grown from the 1800s. Around 2016, approximately 1.5 million people were in prison.  12-13% of the national population is African-American but they make up over one-third of prisoners. The prison umbrella often lacks resources individuals need to survive and can strip people of their civil rights.

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There is a story about a black family in the state of Georgia that demonstrates how quickly the prison population changed due to someone’s race. Henry Minter and Mary Dotson were a beautiful couple who married during the 1870s; Mary was a black servant and Henry was a black farmer in the state of Georgia. The couple had four children together but their daughter Florence stood out from the children. Florence sold moonshine illegally to help support her family who were having financial troubles. Florence was caught selling moonshine in 1920 and was sentenced to three years in prison. “When Florence’s father was born in the 1850s, the state prison population was largely white. But, by the time she was imprisoned, the majority of prisoners were black.” 

Now while incarcerated, Florence and many others in the same position as her experienced a culture in prison that expressed drudgery acts.  “From the 1870s to the 1900s, sentenced prisoners were forced to labor in the fields, rather than stay inside prison walls. When this convict leasing system ended, the figures again rose inexorably upwards. The number of prisoners rose from 42 in 1900, to over 500 in 1910, to over 1000 by 1920.”

Slavery lasted over 400 years in the US and the expectation for that way of life to no longer exist seemed to be unrealistic for African Americans. Slaves were required to work from sunup to sundown every day of the week. Blacks during slavery ate food not even suitable for animals if they were hungry; plantation slaves lived in tiny shacks with dirt floors and no furniture. If a farmer didn’t have good revenue coming in from their farm their slaves might not eat at all. 

Today we refer to someone at a job as our boss but in the past, they were called the “Overseer.” There are stories about cruel overseers and the overseer was paid to get the most work out of the slaves. These overseers resorted to whatever means were necessary to maintain their hierarchy. 

Before the Civil War, an average of 40 people a year were sent to prison in the state of Georgia; Samuel W. Whitworth from Jones County was one of them.”Samuel was a blond and blue-eyed cotton farmer who was jailed for causing ‘mayhem’ – probably some drunken violence – on March 1, 1817. Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, he managed to escape on Christmas Eve 1820. He was later recaptured and hanged in South Carolina”. Samuel committed a crime and tried to escape but, when caught he received the same treatment as a person of color. 

Whitworth a white man, was part of the majority at a Georgia prison.  Between 1817 and 1865, records reveal that a fifth of inmates were described as ‘black,’ ‘dark’ or ‘copper.’ The range of descriptors used to describe “complexion’ – later swapped out for the category of ‘race’ in 1868 – were impressionistic and casually derogatory. About 900 people in our sample were described as being the color of ginger cake.

Now, in 1864, seven former slaves were imprisoned in Georgia but in 1868, the population had risen to 147. Research displays the in Georgia penal system, show nearly 25,000 prison register entries connections between race and imprisonment started in the 1860s. Many prisons today have limited resources to cater to prisoner's needs.  The prison umbrella demonstrates prisoners working long hours for no pay and being poorly fed.  Many people before being arrested come from poverty.  They have limited access to growth led and this can lead to divisive behaviors which cause them to land them in prison. 

No matter the story or race, mass incarceration is a problem in the past and today in society. The state of Georgia, along with many other states found a way to legalize slavery for minorities. Today prisoners experience a lack of healthcare, derelict living conditions, and limited access to healthy foods. 

All of these facts and conditions fall under the prison umbrella.