WILL WE EVER LEARN?
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by Willie Christopher Tucker Bio/Address
Throughout history, there has always been some group or another who has
been the target of bias and discrimination. This is particularly true when it
comes to cultural, religious and racial differences. Prejudice is not just limited to the free
society. Even when people are removed from
their original community, they still carry with them their cultural, religious,
and personal beliefs. In some instances, maintaining these beliefs is
advantageous; in others, it is a detriment.
In a prison setting, an individual can be discriminated against simply
because of their beliefs, their differences, and for crimes that are considered
taboo, according to the "inside" criminal code. The "criminal code" is a way of life. A set
of unspoken rules that each hustler, player, dealer, thug or convict must live
by. These rules are passed on from generation to generation. To violate
these rules on the streets and in prison is to be ostracized. Molesters and snitches are considered the
lowest of the low. Yet, they, by some strange
disparity in sentencing tend to have the shortest sentences. Their acts of
violence against members of our society, who are completely defenseless, are
often unbelievable and reprehensible. Since the court system seems to validate
certain crimes as being more tolerable morally than others, this sends out a
clear message of partiality and the criminals strike back.
When men molesters enter prison, they get
essentially the same treatment they gave their undeserving victims. Should we
cry for the molesters simply because they are beaten and sodomized in prison? Or should we weep for the little children who they have traumatized for life?
Emotion packed issues like these
are typically used to give justification to blatant acts of prejudice. They are
used to enrage the public and incite their hidden passions for vengeance. No one
deserves to be treated with indignity just because they have committed a crime.
Everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law and everyone has the
right not be the recipient of vigilante justice. One recent example of a public
outcry for vengeance is the federally sanctioned murder of Timothy McVeigh.
Although McVeigh's crime was horrible, it was surpassed by our Federal governments
willingness to act as producers of a televised execution / murder.
Although victim rights are certainly important, it is equally important
and vital to our humanity that we not become a bloodthirsty, vindictive
society. This would be particularly true within the growing prison populations.
prisoners. Since inmate days and nights are controlled by individuals
who think that they are the scum of the earth, prisoners should be the last
individuals to show discrimination towards others. But, old habits and beliefs
are hard to soften in an atmosphere of utter contempt. Also many prisoners are
resistant to any sort of change. So, unfortunately, there will always be groups
and individuals who will discriminate against other prisoners. Whether it is in
the prison
setting or in free society, it appears, people will always fear what is
different. Inparticular, the people and the things they are not accustomed to.
Somehow, someway, we human beings are going to have to actually become
the rational, reasoning creatures we were created to be. We must elevate our
minds, lest we imitat the behavior of the lower animals.
Eventually, we are going to have to reinvent our social selves in a truly humanitarian way. Specifically, in the ways we discriminate against each other.
Poems
EVOLUTION by Willie Tucker Bio/Address
NEW POETS
The Night Jodi Came to Visit ME By
K. Mudica
Three Poems by Merchant-Moody
My Top Dog For Life! by Soraya Deborggraeve
Man's Humanity by Richard Rossi
Essays by Willie Christopher Tucker Bio/Address
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