Having spent 16 years and 48 days of my life incarcerated, the most impactful aspect of my life’s transformation has been the relationships I have developed. A person’s place in the world is forged through relationships; it’s the glue that holds everything else together. I think of those I love often when I’m faced with adversity. You probably do the same.
Sadly, in some communities, believing in the importance of societal structures is simply foreign. Many see themselves as adversaries to the laws and government officials because they find it hard to believe that they belong in the society that surrounds them. The law becomes a looming threat to their existence. They struggle to buy into the American Dream.
But when all this breaks down, the tragic reality is that, most often, the individual who doesn’t have a vested interest in society is already socially isolated. This is a reality I want to highlight when thinking about so many of my incarcerated brothers.
This isolation threatens the bond between the individual and their significant relationships; consequently, they no longer feel connected to societal structures and the goods we are all meant to share. Without this, a person feels free to do things he or she would never consider if they were closely committed to others whom they love or care about. There’s much to be said for the feeling of responsibility when you are deeply connected with others around you. My guess is, for most of us, this isn’t terribly hard to imagine.
The onset of isolation can be explained narrowly in terms of individual lives; but it is more thoroughly and comprehensively explained in terms of the family structure. We can’t deny that many of those incarcerated have family members, often parents, who have been incarcerated. Incarceration impacts more than the individual incarcerated. It is injurious to the entire family. And what injures the family, whether we believe it or not, injures the wider community. Our interdependency, all of us, is a mysterious reality we shouldn’t ignore.
One exceptional statistic that I can’t shake is Black males are only 13% of the United States population; nevertheless, they represent 38% of those in the criminal justice system. Laws will be written with specific neighborhoods in mind. Law enforcement officers will enforce these laws in those neighborhoods. The result is the criminalization of entire communities. I don’t think this is hard for us to see. So many of those in our jails or prisons come from impoverished communities disconnected far from the mainstream. “The lifetime likelihood of imprisonment among Black men born in 2001, although decreased, remains four times that of their white counterparts.”
The guys I’ve noticed who struggle the most and who hold perspectives that often make it easier to commit crimes, lack significant relationships. They are exiled from the land, in many respects. This is a profound truth I believe is so often neglected. They assume the identity of a criminal because this is the identity society has scripted for them. They develop a defeated mindset and take on this antagonistic role as though they are somehow separated from the rest of us. This isolates them from participating in their own personal vision and pursuing a truly good life. They live like they have nothing to lose or gain. As a result, they sink further and deeper into social alienation and ultimately spend their lives outside of our social and legal structures.
This is why our work is even more urgent to create connecting links and social bonds with those who are often living life on the margins. As scripture teaches us, whether we believe it or not, we are our brother’s keeper.
Andre
