Prison is treated as an inevitable fact of life even in communities it oppresses

Evidence

At bottom, there is one fundamental question: Why do we take prison for granted? While a relatively small proportion of the population has ever directly experienced life inside prison, this is not true in poor black and Latino communities. Neither is it true for Native Americans or for certain Asian-American communities. But even among those people who must regrettably accept prison sentences—especially young people—as an ordinary dimension of community life, it is hardly acceptable to engage in serious public discussions about prison life or radical alternatives to prison. It is as if prison were an inevitable fact of life, like birth and death. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 29

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why is serious public discussion of alternatives forbidden precisely in the communities most affected?
• XREF: connects to: Prisons create the illusion that free people’s rights and liberties are secured by imprisonment. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 24; Prison is an ordinary life dimension in poor communities of color; Prison abolition has a long history but remains culturally unthinkable (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Prison is an ordinary life dimension in poor communities of color #corroborates (0.85)
• Prison imagery in media makes incarceration seem natural and permanent #corroborates (0.70)
• Prison reform rhetoric reinforces the prison’s permanence. #corroborates (0.70)
• Reform rhetoric bolsters prison permanence and cannot meet corporate-era challenges #corroborates (0.65) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 266
• Prison abolition has a long history but remains culturally unthinkable #expands (0.60)
• Prison expansion undermines democracy and normalizes incarceration for people of color #expands (0.60) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 274
• Criminalized communities, not individual acts, determine who ends up imprisoned #expands (0.55)