why i'm an abolitionist
By Scotia
[TW: severe racism, rape]
Note: I don't cite references here because it is justification for my own political views. It is not an attempt at persuasion. I suggest reading 'We Do This Till We Free Us' by Mariame Kaba if you actually want to educate yourself.
what is abolitionism | the history of the justice system | the justice system's flaws | alternatives
what is abolitionism
Abolitionism is a political movement in favour of black liberation. Its original existence was in favour of ending slavery, and since then the movement has moved onto the justice system, which has heavy roots in slavery (see history of the justice system).
It is not the same thing as abolishing the police, as police are only a part of the overall justice system (although they are a particularly corrupt part).
There are two parts to abolitionism:
1. Transformative justice: avoiding conditions that foster crime and selfishness
2. Restorative justice: in the event that someone does something harmful, the consequences they face are based around healing the victim
Leftists all agree that the justice system is incredibly flawed, but often suggest reforms/defunding instead. It's better, but it's not good.
Society can be whatever we like. There's really no reason to stick with fundamentally oppressive systems when there are so many better options, other than fear of failure. But American Indigenous communities have practised similar systems to what many abolitionists suggest. It's not exactly uncharted territory.
the history of the justice system
The Western justice system has existed in some way, shape, or form, since feudalism. The event that shaped the current justice system was, in fact, slavery. The US economy relied on the labour of enslaved people. The way that they were treated was beyond horrific. It was reflective of the flaws of capitalism that remain prevalent; the fact that mistreatment of workers is rewarded with less expenditure and more wealth.
It took about a century for slavery to be criminalised in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln, with the Emancipation Proclamation. He did leave a loophole in the document, saying that people could be forced into unpaid manual labour if it was as punishment.
Thus began 'black codes'; laws passed in order to essentially criminalise the existence of people of colour, so that they could be imprisoned, and therefore forced into slavery. This kind of strategy is still relevant today, as the highly racial 'war on drugs' continues.
It is important to note that most of this history has taken place in the US (which subsequently has extremely high imprisonment rates compared to any other country). However, this does not invalidate the relevancy of this history in other countries. The US is a ridiculously powerful and influential colony and, for example, the 'war on drugs' motivated other countries into similarly harsh laws. Be that as it may, the fucked-up-ness of the US justice system should never be understated. It truly is particularly awful.
Australia's laws relating to Aboriginal slavery are incredibly murky. Slavery was technically criminalised in 1833, as it was a British colony and therefore was under the law of the British Slavery Abolition Act, however post-federation, many laws were passed to shelter slave owners and Aboriginal lives only stopped being regulated as recently as the seventies. Australia too, is guilty of criminalising the existence of people of colour, and of profiting off it.
the justice system's flaws
Racial profiling and minority targeting
Racism is built into the prison system and is the biggest defining prejudice, but it also tends to target minorities. It is no more exempt from intersectional theory than any other industry, in fact it is more so. The demographic most at risk for arrest/imprisonment is trans women of colour.
Privatisation
Privatisation is especially prevalent in the US, because of its right-wing politics. However, in Australia over 18% of inmates are held in privately run facilities. This means that prisons are susceptible to the flaws of capitalism. Prison corporation owners need to make profit, so in order to do that, they must cut corners on the conditions that the prisoners live with. Essentially, this means that prisons are run the same way as companies that employ slaves are run, which is not only corrupt in itself, but a red flag indicative of the oppressiveness of the system.
Ineffectiveness
There are many statistics out there about how prison life does not deter people from committing crime, but a common one is that prisoners, once released, are actually more likely to commit crimes in the future.
Cruelty
It's no surprise that it is no tea party to live inside a prison. The idea is that the horrors of prison will deter people from committing crimes. Not only has it been ineffective, it is morally corrupt to intentionally subject an inmate to what could be considered torture - regardless of what they have done.
Not reflective the moral integrity of a person
Not everything that is evil is criminalised, and not everything that is criminalised is evil. For example, most people agree that Jeff Bezos is evil in the way that he treats his workers and hoards his wealth in order to indulge himself in ridiculous luxuries, such as going to the moon. He could literally end world poverty if he wanted to, but instead he prioritises his extravagant lifestyle. He faces zero legal ramifications for this. The worst he gets is random people on the internet like myself who call him evil. On the other hand, someone who takes drugs is harming nobody but themselves. Depending on their race, they might spend years in prison. So it's pretty obvious that prisons are not filled to the brim with monstrous rapists and psychopaths whose release would cause the world to erupt in chaos.
Prioritises punishment over rehabilitation
It is incredibly important to always remember that crime does not exist in a vacuum. Ever. There's always a reason or a combination of reasons, such as poverty, mental illness, or a taught sense of righteousness*. By preventing these conditions and any other contributing factors, we can effectively end crime as a whole.
It's a common argument that 'what if someone was just really evil and nothing happened to them, they were just born that way, and they just wanted to kill/rape people'. That simply doesn't happen. Someone who feels no remorse over evil actions definitely has some form of a mental illness.
* 'A taught sense of righteousness' refers to people such as Harvey Weinstein and a lot of entitled rapists - people who felt as though their actions are not wrong, because of oppressive views that have been taught to them by the media surrounding them. The fact that they have been taught those views by other people does not mean that they are any less responsible for their actions. But if there's a way that we as a society can prevent awful people like him from being so awful, then I believe that it is our responsibility to do so.
alternatives
I intend to gloss over alternatives because if you are actually interested, you should do your own research. Also, not all every abolitionist has the same opinion on how we should move forward.
Many alternatives have already succeeded in American Indigenous communities pre-colonisation.Ideas often feature the concept of community, trust, and dependence on one another