How prison works

Day 5 (June 15, 2007)

Today I end my fast. Ironically I am not even hungry. I found out that orange crush (a tact unit consisting of correctional officers) came to the institution to conduct a shakedown. It is rumored that they assaulted some inmates. I kind of saw that coming. For 1) it would be retaliation which is very common in prison, and for 2) the trigger-happy-syndrome (as I call it).
This is where a policeman is trained and overtrained to use his weapon and never has the chance to put his skills to use. He then creates the opportunity himself and tends to overreact. The same happens with these tact units. When they come in, an inmate can comply all he wants but there is going to be some action. That way you have suspects (unarmed) getting shot 20-50 times while their only crime was reaching for their cell phone.

In prison any incident will be portrayed as major because the guards want to paint the prison (this one in particular) as dangerous. When there is nothing happening the guards provoke inmates into acting. This is easy when you have the majority feeling they are being oppressed.

It is good thing I never gave in to the "racism or conspiracy theory" common among black prisoners. Yes racism does play a role in our justice system. However America is growing more classicist than racist. Justice is extended as far as your money can stretch.

Once you are in prison you are sure to encounter racism. This is because 70 to 80 percent of the prisoners are black and 90 to 100 percent of the prison personnel is white. Most come from rural areas and have never been around blacks. They come to work with preconceived notions about blacks (what they see on the news or on tv) and they come to prison to see the creme de la creme of society's misfits - which happen to be mostly blacks.

Toward the end of the day I think about my freedom and what I have to do to become successful. I end the day on thinking on that note.