Should the students of the University of Minnesota demand the Board of Regents divest from companies that are 1) complicit in Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, 2) maintaining and establishing private prisons and immigrant detention centers, or 3) violating Indigenous sovereignty?
What is the Prison Industrial Complex?
The United States of America puts more people in prison, per capita, than any other country in the world. According to Prison Policy Initiative, 99% of total jail growth in the past 15 years are due to people held in prison prior to their trial. This means people who could not afford their bail, and have not been proven guilty of the crimes they are being charged with, make up the bulk of detainees.
The prison industrial complex is the system describing how the amount of people in the US (and other countries) have rapidly grown in recent years because of corporations profiting off of both private prisons they build and the labor of the prisoners themselves. This system is tied to systematic racism. The US Census Bureau reports that about 13% of the US is black/African-American (2016), while the Bureau of Prison states that 37.9% of all US inmates are black/African-American (Jan 2018). Additionally, indigenous people are 1.3% of the US population, but 2.2% of the inmates. Undocumented people are also being exploited through private/public detention centers. Corporations make their money by forcing prisoners/detainees to work for them for little to no pay, often making furniture or other products they then sell.
The prison industrial complex is the system describing how the amount of people in the US (and other countries) have rapidly grown in recent years because of corporations profiting off of both private prisons they build and the labor of the prisoners themselves. This system is tied to systematic racism. The US Census Bureau reports that about 13% of the US is black/African-American (2016), while the Bureau of Prison states that 37.9% of all US inmates are black/African-American (Jan 2018). Additionally, indigenous people are 1.3% of the US population, but 2.2% of the inmates. Undocumented people are also being exploited through private/public detention centers. Corporations make their money by forcing prisoners/detainees to work for them for little to no pay, often making furniture or other products they then sell.
What do companies like Raytheon and G4S have to do with the prison industrial complex?
G4S is a British security company that has been in charge of several detention centers, jails, and private prisons in which the detainees were exploited for their labor, lived in bad conditions, and/or were abused sexually by workers (see resources for article links).
Raytheon is a US defense contracting company currently known as the world’s largest producer of missiles. They rely on prison labor to produce weapons. Raytheon has also created weapons to use on prisoners for the LA County Jail (see resources for article links).
Raytheon is a US defense contracting company currently known as the world’s largest producer of missiles. They rely on prison labor to produce weapons. Raytheon has also created weapons to use on prisoners for the LA County Jail (see resources for article links).
Connections to Palestine
“Before Palestinians are even arrested, they are already in prison. One misstep and one can be arrested and hauled off to prison; one can be transferred from an open-air prison to a closed prison...And so if we say abolish the prison-industrial complex, as we do, we should also say abolish apartheid, and end the occupation of Palestine!”
Excerpt From: Angela Y. Davis. “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle.”
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Resources
The prison industrial complex is not just a concept; it’s something the University of Minnesota takes part in to exploit laborers for cheap (just look at your dorm/library furniture): https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/principles-of-less-eligibility-the-human-cost-of-prison-labor-part-ii/
https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/principles-of-less-eligibility-the-human-cost-of-prison-labor-part-i/
G4S and Serco are two examples of private companies exploiting detained immigrants for cheap labor (UK specific article): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/22/immigrants-cheap-labour-detention-centres-g4s-serco
G4S has been known to run youth jails/detention centers where the detainees are neglected and physically/sexually abused (US specific): https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/20/misconduct-youth-jail-rainsbrook-ofsted-g4s
Slavery in the US prison system: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/09/slavery-prison-system-170901082522072.html
Raytheon made a weapon that shocks prisoners for the LA County Jail: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129630188
Organizations:
Critical Resistance
Prison Policy Initiative
Abolition Journal
https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/principles-of-less-eligibility-the-human-cost-of-prison-labor-part-i/
G4S and Serco are two examples of private companies exploiting detained immigrants for cheap labor (UK specific article): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/22/immigrants-cheap-labour-detention-centres-g4s-serco
G4S has been known to run youth jails/detention centers where the detainees are neglected and physically/sexually abused (US specific): https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/20/misconduct-youth-jail-rainsbrook-ofsted-g4s
Slavery in the US prison system: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/09/slavery-prison-system-170901082522072.html
Raytheon made a weapon that shocks prisoners for the LA County Jail: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129630188
Organizations:
Critical Resistance
Prison Policy Initiative
Abolition Journal