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04/16/2006:

"The U.S. gulag prison system: Shame of the nation and crime against humanity"

No, not the gulag you think, outrageous as it is. I'm referring to the U.S. prison system that's with no exaggeration about as shockingly abusive as the gulag abroad. It qualifies for that label by its size alone - more than 2.1 million as of June 2004 and growing larger by about 900 new inmates every week.

Blacks, mostly poor and disadvantaged, especially are affected. While they make up just 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, they account for half the prison population and their numbers there have grown fivefold in the last 25 years. Hispanics, also poor, account for another 15 percent.

About half of those incarcerated are there for non-violent offenses, and half of those, 500,000, are drug related. But while Blacks make up 15 percent of illicit drug users, they account for 37 percent of drug arrests, 42 percent of drug offenders in federal prison and 62 percent in state prisons. And Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that in one third of the states 75 percent of all those imprisoned for drug-related offenses are Black.

In my home state of Illinois, they reported the number to be an astonishing 89 percent, a total exceeded by only one other state. Further, in a so-called free society, below the radar are hundreds of political prisoners, mostly people of color, there only because they represent a threat to the state for the pursuit of justice for their people they would resume if they were free.

Today the U.S. shamelessly has more people behind bars than any other nation including China with over four times our population. And things have become especially repressive against those in society least able to defend themselves, including immigrants of color and our newest demon - Muslims. The Bush administration has made a bad situation far worse taking full advantage of their fear-induced "permanent state of war" and sham "global war on terrorism" to target all those seen as a potential threat to their plan for global dominance and full control at home.

Taken as a whole, this is a national disgrace and outrage, but the effect on those targeted is pretty much below the radar, unreported and undiscussed in the mainstream. Who cares about a couple of million mostly poor, mostly people of color, including immigrants, many of whom are undocumented and have no legal rights at all, languishing behind bars out of sight and out of mind. When any of this is discussed, it's to let the voter-eligible public know our political leaders are "tough on crime" and working to keep us safe.
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