Prison Writing :: essays research papers

The bleak prison world portrayed by George capital of Mississippi in his letter to Fay Stender, his attorney, develops into a concentrated and condensed view of the Statesn society. This microcosm evolves from faults within the socio-political structure of the state. Jackson draws similarities betwixt the construct of American and prison life, which harmonised the unrest of black Americans during an age of the civil right movement. The links drawn add some other proportion to the movement and the barbaric nature of American politics.To move away from Jacksons letter, I would like to quote something that I believe is all-important(a) to Jacksons view of the prison carcassI find out like an alien in here because this whole prison formation is created in such a way as to cut me out from my culture, my religion. There is no way I can describe the fix it has on me to be forcefully separated from my very way of life. The determine of the pureness man, I do not understand. I d ont understand a culture that believes that it is good to fight one another for wealth, for material things These things I dont understand, but it is the way of white man, and it is the way these prisoners are taught to be so that they can function aright in the white mans society when they are released. This is authority of an affidavit written to congress by a Native American called Timothy Reed, also known as Little Rock. The prison system is designed to remove ones identity to replace it with an American one. I have often thought that being American is to a greater extent akin to a religion than a nationality. The nations yearning guarding of their identity condemns any notion outside their own. That a nation so young and bastardised could be so xenophobic is horrifically ironic considering Americas history. And it is this history that Jackson considers important to understanding why racial discrimination exists at the prison with particular expulsion and goes on to answer the big question of why racism exists in American society with particular prominence, tied into history. That those who inhabit the prison and feed off its existence are historical products, fixes on an evolution of America which not only creates the take up for such prisons, but also creates a micro-society in its image. The perpetuation of the rigour of American history exists inside the prison walls, where overt racism exists unchecked.