It hasn’t always been this way in all places, and became this way largely after the end of civil rights starting in the early 1970s. The prison system became private and expanded exponentially, putting the prisons into private hands for profits. We had lots if prisons, which are a way for the rich to suck taxpayer money out of the system for themselves and the politicians who approve these structures. Their goal to build as many as possible and get rich by sucking money form the taxpayer worked, and incarceration rates soared from 80 thousand to see more than 3 million black American men alone jailed between 1980 and 2001. The private corporation system soared. Forty percent of juvenile detention centers are private today, which means no investment into education, training guards, oversight, etc., so the prisons can save money to get a better return on investment. One of the big ones, CoreCivics, owns or operates such prison, immigration detention centers like the ones we see on the border, “residential” detention centers. All for profit that comes from taxpayers. The less care is involved, the more recidivism, and the more the profits.

In the time before this, we can the example of Malcolm X, who served some years in prison, who studied quietly in his cell, consuming many books and getting the equivalent of a Master’s degree. He went on to change the country and become a brilliant speaker and thinker. The change that occurred made sure to stop this from happening, as more Malcolm X’s would be destructive to the white corporate system that relies of repressive, rather then progressive techniques and related ideologies to profit from.