Critical Book Review
In Angela Davis’ book, Are Prisons Obsolete? Davis explains her reason to why prisons should be abolished. Davis gives convincing reasons to make us believe her argument. She gives good statistics and great sources to help explain her argument. Before reading into this book I thought this lady is crazy. How are prisons going to be abolished? Then I read into her reasoning into why she wanted prisons to be gone from society. Reading and analyzing her reason and explanations, I understood why prisons are wrong. Angela Davis connected to me, a person who did not believe prisons should be abolished, to help believe that prisons are not right for society and are horrible places.
In Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis’ purpose is to “…allow readers to grasp how easy it is to produce a massive system of incarceration with the implicit consent of the public.”(Davis 14). Davis wants to show her intended audience, which is for people who do not think twice about prison system being bad for society to take a second look, to see that prisons should be abolished. First, to help with her argument, Davis points out a few reasons to help her argument. The first reason is that prisons are a form of racism. Davis compares prisons to slavery by saying “Like southern slaves, prison inmates followed a daily routine…Both frequently coerced their subjects to work, often for longer hours and for less compensation than free laborers.”(Davis 27). Davis shows that prisons compare to slavery by the way prisoners are treated. Basically they are treated like slaves. They are working for little no money. The reason to why there are many prisoners is because that is how the state can get free labor. Another way Davis shows racism in prisons is by the Black Codes that are current throughout the prison system. Davis says “…Within a short period of time, the overwhelming majority of Alabama’s convicts were black.”(Davis 29). This shows that many of the inmates were black and that is because that is who the police are going after because they believe they will arrest them for something when they are not doing anything illegal. This is a trick by the justice system to get more free laborers and to also for the corporations in charge of the prisons to get money. Angela Davis shows this in a very convincing way to me that shows that prisons are not always for justice. They are corrupted to see a paycheck and to get workers to work for free.
Another reason Davis uses to show her audience that prisons should be abolished is by comparing prisons to reform. Davis gives a good background of prison system and what they were made for then. Then, prisons were made for reforming the prisoners that were convicted of any crime. It was said then that “…”prison” and “reform” have been inextricably linked since the beginning of the use of imprisonment as the main means of punishing those who violate social norms.”(Davis 40). Davis lets her audience know that prisons were made to reform and be a place to help prisons reform from the crimes they have done. Now that is not how prisons are. There is no reforming done to help the prisoners. According to Davis, Instead of reforming the prisoners, the prisoners are being punished. Davis Says “The computability of the state punishment in terms of time—days, months, years—resonates with the role of labor-time as the basis for computing the value capitalist commodities.”(Davis 44). Davis showed me the history of prisons and what they are for. Now I see that the purpose of having prisons around now is not for the purpose it used to be anymore. There is no more reforming and helping prisoners. They are simply there to work for free and rot in their cells.
The last reason why Angela Davis says prisons should be abolished is why the gender structuring that happens in the prison systems. The treatment between the men and the women prisoners were different from each other, but they were the same in every prison. Men were treated badly, but women definitely were treated worse because they were women. Then when prisons were for reforming prisoners, women would be reformed by “…assimilating correct womanly behaviors—that is, by becoming experts in domesticity—especially cooking, cleaning, and sewing.”(Davis 64). This type of reforming for women was sexist and Davis shows us this to help with her argument about prisons being structured by gender. Davis shows the harsh treatment of women in the prison systems by imputing a story from her friends, fellow political prisoners, Joan Bird and Afeni Shakur’s prison experience. They let Davis know that in the prison system, “They lock you in a hole and they don’t let you out until you consent to be searched internally.”(Davis 63). Davis lets us know more about the harsh conditions of being searched internally by adding a very detailed explanation. “You sit on the edge of and this burse holds your legs open and sticks a finger in your vagina and movies it around. She has a plastic glove on. Some of them try to put one finger in your vagina and another one up your rectum at the same time.”(Davis 63) The way Davis lets us know the details of the search is to show the audience the extremes women have to go through when they are incarcerated.
Angela Davis gave her audience three reasons why prisons should be abolished. Her reasons are that prisons are a form of racism, prisons were made for reform, but cannot be reformed and that the prison system is structured by gender. Her main points sound ridiculous when you read them, but when reading into her argument and reasoning behind her arguments makes sense. The way that Davis made her arguments with the background history of the prison systems and letting the audience know that these things are happening in the prison systems made me enjoy reading about her argument. It made me see another to something I would never think is possible. Now that I have analyzed her story and purpose, I see why she feels this way towards prisons, not solely of her experience, but because she sees prisons as a bad thing for society to lean on to send the “bad” people. If you still can’t see prisons being abolished then think of it this way, then people couldn’t see slavery every being abolished, it was a way of life to people then. Now we can’t ever see slavery happening. Same with prisons, Angela Davis has convinced me that prisons are something we can’t every see going away, but if they are abolished we would see it as slavery, we couldn’t see it as ever happening.
In Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis’ purpose is to “…allow readers to grasp how easy it is to produce a massive system of incarceration with the implicit consent of the public.”(Davis 14). Davis wants to show her intended audience, which is for people who do not think twice about prison system being bad for society to take a second look, to see that prisons should be abolished. First, to help with her argument, Davis points out a few reasons to help her argument. The first reason is that prisons are a form of racism. Davis compares prisons to slavery by saying “Like southern slaves, prison inmates followed a daily routine…Both frequently coerced their subjects to work, often for longer hours and for less compensation than free laborers.”(Davis 27). Davis shows that prisons compare to slavery by the way prisoners are treated. Basically they are treated like slaves. They are working for little no money. The reason to why there are many prisoners is because that is how the state can get free labor. Another way Davis shows racism in prisons is by the Black Codes that are current throughout the prison system. Davis says “…Within a short period of time, the overwhelming majority of Alabama’s convicts were black.”(Davis 29). This shows that many of the inmates were black and that is because that is who the police are going after because they believe they will arrest them for something when they are not doing anything illegal. This is a trick by the justice system to get more free laborers and to also for the corporations in charge of the prisons to get money. Angela Davis shows this in a very convincing way to me that shows that prisons are not always for justice. They are corrupted to see a paycheck and to get workers to work for free.
Another reason Davis uses to show her audience that prisons should be abolished is by comparing prisons to reform. Davis gives a good background of prison system and what they were made for then. Then, prisons were made for reforming the prisoners that were convicted of any crime. It was said then that “…”prison” and “reform” have been inextricably linked since the beginning of the use of imprisonment as the main means of punishing those who violate social norms.”(Davis 40). Davis lets her audience know that prisons were made to reform and be a place to help prisons reform from the crimes they have done. Now that is not how prisons are. There is no reforming done to help the prisoners. According to Davis, Instead of reforming the prisoners, the prisoners are being punished. Davis Says “The computability of the state punishment in terms of time—days, months, years—resonates with the role of labor-time as the basis for computing the value capitalist commodities.”(Davis 44). Davis showed me the history of prisons and what they are for. Now I see that the purpose of having prisons around now is not for the purpose it used to be anymore. There is no more reforming and helping prisoners. They are simply there to work for free and rot in their cells.
The last reason why Angela Davis says prisons should be abolished is why the gender structuring that happens in the prison systems. The treatment between the men and the women prisoners were different from each other, but they were the same in every prison. Men were treated badly, but women definitely were treated worse because they were women. Then when prisons were for reforming prisoners, women would be reformed by “…assimilating correct womanly behaviors—that is, by becoming experts in domesticity—especially cooking, cleaning, and sewing.”(Davis 64). This type of reforming for women was sexist and Davis shows us this to help with her argument about prisons being structured by gender. Davis shows the harsh treatment of women in the prison systems by imputing a story from her friends, fellow political prisoners, Joan Bird and Afeni Shakur’s prison experience. They let Davis know that in the prison system, “They lock you in a hole and they don’t let you out until you consent to be searched internally.”(Davis 63). Davis lets us know more about the harsh conditions of being searched internally by adding a very detailed explanation. “You sit on the edge of and this burse holds your legs open and sticks a finger in your vagina and movies it around. She has a plastic glove on. Some of them try to put one finger in your vagina and another one up your rectum at the same time.”(Davis 63) The way Davis lets us know the details of the search is to show the audience the extremes women have to go through when they are incarcerated.
Angela Davis gave her audience three reasons why prisons should be abolished. Her reasons are that prisons are a form of racism, prisons were made for reform, but cannot be reformed and that the prison system is structured by gender. Her main points sound ridiculous when you read them, but when reading into her argument and reasoning behind her arguments makes sense. The way that Davis made her arguments with the background history of the prison systems and letting the audience know that these things are happening in the prison systems made me enjoy reading about her argument. It made me see another to something I would never think is possible. Now that I have analyzed her story and purpose, I see why she feels this way towards prisons, not solely of her experience, but because she sees prisons as a bad thing for society to lean on to send the “bad” people. If you still can’t see prisons being abolished then think of it this way, then people couldn’t see slavery every being abolished, it was a way of life to people then. Now we can’t ever see slavery happening. Same with prisons, Angela Davis has convinced me that prisons are something we can’t every see going away, but if they are abolished we would see it as slavery, we couldn’t see it as ever happening.