The AC Phoenix,
February 1998
Page 1 3
Until Justice Rains Down
by Rodney J. Sumler
possible to prevent them from qualifying for
anything that will help them and their fami
lies. It is just existing until you are set free.
Blacks receive more administrative discipli
nary transfers than whites. More white
inmates received community custody than
blacks and more whites receive community
custody sooner than blacks. “I didn’t go to
BOP officials. They treat you like animals. I
am a human being.”
Inmates can ask for help with problems
such as making a call home, asking for some
BOP forms, or asking about making legal
copies, but if you ask more than two BOP
officials or the wrong one, you are a problem
inmate who will be given a poor adjustment
rating. Black inmates are an overwhelming
portion of the GED programs, but there were
very few black instructors. The director of
education was white in the mid ‘90s. Only
one black inmate had a job assignment in
education and he worked in the library. The
inmate staff consisted of four whites, two
Hispanics and one Arab American and one
Black.
Only white inmates have been allowed to
teach special interest courses to inmates in the
area of business, credit repair, resume prepa
ration, investments, tax preparation, weight
lifting, and automobile dealers. All but one of
these (weight lifting) were taught by inmates
who committed crimes in those areas. They
were allowed to teach about what they did
wrong. Black inmates are routinely denied an
opportunity to conduct programs that will
help other inmates.
Black politicians, leaders and the NAACP
have fought for years to get blacks in mean
ingful positions within our penal systems.
Nearly all the blacks in the BOP who are the
benefactors of that victory, have forgotten
from whence they came. They act like they
advanced solely on their own merits. They
refuse to accept the fact that they are obligat
ed to insure fair and equal treatment for
blacks, not better but equal.
Federal Prison Camp Seymour Johnson is
“NICK PICKIN VILLE.” It is a VENUS
FLY TRAP with all of its beauty on the out
side looking in, but a prison sewer on the
inside carrying wasted human lives to bitter
ness and hate. Just as the Venus Fly Trap
devours life, this federal prison camp con
sumes the hopes, dreams and future of
inmates. Seymour Johnson FPC has excellent
facilities. But the warden in ‘93 and ‘94 with
his “hands-off style of leadership” allowed it
to become a sewer of a prison slave camp. It
was better than some FPCs, but it was being
operated like a NIT PICKIN - MINI
MILITARY - BOYSCOUT CAMP. You
cannot provide “just punishment” on the basis
of lies, deceit, treachery and trickery. You
must be JUST and DISCIPLINED if you
expect to be successful in DISCIPLINING
OTHERS.
There is a “cause and effect” relationship
that exists between prison officials, inmates,
future crimes in the community and recidi
vism. Black BOP officials can help to “slow
crime down” and reclaim the neighborhoods
where they were bom, have roots and still
VISIT TO SEE MAMA! We need to begin to
treat each other right if we expect others to
treat us right. BOP employees with a moral
and spiritual force centered around how to
handle people can make a difference in what
former inmates do in the communities. Prison
officials should try LOVE and RESPECT,
not ABUSE as they deal with inmates. If for
no other reason, they should love inmates
because inmates are the reason for their jobs.
Because of sometimes scarred opinions of
black inmates, our wardens are influenced at
times negatively with a “HACK’S MEN
TALITY” - “Us against them” and their posi
tion requires that they not act black in carry
ing out their responsibilities. We should all
agree that “COLOR BLINDNESS” is our
goal. As the great reggae artist Bob Marley of
Jamaica observes, “until the color of man’s
skin is no longer of no greater consequence
than the color of his eyes, there will be war.”
The Federal Bureau of Prison cannot get there
by pretending that “RACE” and “COLOR”
no longer matter, that they have magically
declined in significance since the sixties. In a
racist society, color symbolizes the inequality
of power relations. The BOP is part of a racist
society. Black inmates are getting a message
that “white is right,” black is bad and racial
discrimination is desirable.
Until blacks in authority in the BOP recog
nize their blackness and use their authority to
guarantee just treatment for black inmates,
rivers of hurt, suffering and pain will continue
to be inflicted on “black inmates - the new
1998 slaves.” As long as there is good and
evil, as long as God gives us a choice
between right and wrong, there will be a need
for prisons. But with our systems of educa
tion, welfare, and generations from all races
disrespecting laws, the 1.7 million people
incarcerated will continue to grow. The
racism that inmates our system of justice will
continue to enforce more laws that make
criminals of black people in greater numbers.
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