What's the Meaning of . . . ABOLITION!
by Lamarr Reid
Crime does not begin, or end, with a perpetrator and victim; nor does it begin with an eloborate scheme to acquire some mean to an end. Rather, crrime begins long before the so-called criminal devises a plan to sneak, maim, or take from a victim. In fact, the so-called criminal is nothing more than the victim themselves, as put so elegantly by Mariame Kaba and Danielle Sered (among others). They are victims of the crushing systems of povererty, racism, capitalism, white supremacy, and the like. So, merely suggesting the demolition of prisons does not holistically address the issues that require the need of such institutions. So I scream, with every bit of breath that I can muster: ABOLITION MUST BEGIN AT THE FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL OF CAUSALITY. Then I ask the obvious: How can we abolish the physical structures (i.e., County jails, Correctional Facilities, United States Penitentaries, and the like) without first addressing the contributing factors that lead both men and women to be warehoused by the millions (i.e., racism, unequal schooling, poverty)? In this pursuit to bring about a world without prisons, there are no simple answers. But if we look at the root causes then, and only then, can the goal of abolition be effective and have an impactful meaning and result.
Let's be clear: Prison is not solely about demolishing the inhumane structures that house incarcerated individuals. But rather, abolition is centered on disassembling the preexisting ideeology of white supremacy, which begins on a fundamental level--with the people. By reconditioning minds, changing particuar cultures, and replacing established structures of racism, we then begin to transform systems and subsequently bring down prison walls. Instead of prison reform, which means moving little things around (an act that appeases political constituents and roaring protesters), we must rethink our entire approach to criminal justice/punishment as we know it (a feat often deemed utopian or insurmountable). Abolition requires re-imagining the same spaces (and political spheres) that so many people rely on in order to validate instrumental pieces of democracy--education, wealth, crime and punishment, and race.
Abolition demands that we look beyond structures into systems that validate their existence. So, in the end, reimagining a world without prisons/police subsequently means reimagining the world as we know it--which is unimaginable and terrifying, but neecesary.
Far too often, people view crime and punishment in terms of perpetrator and victim, follwed by a term of imprisonment. The reality is, however, inextricably woven to the lack of resoures that plague poor communities of color accross the country. We must reimagine what we see as normal.
Before we can imagine demolishing Attica, we must demolish the practice of underfunded scholing; before we can imagine demolishing ADX Marion, we must dmolish the acceptance of poverty; before we can imagine demolishing Bedford Hills Corrctional Facility, we must demolish the structure that perpetuate racism. This means that if we demolish the structural components of inequality, then prisons will dissolve because they (prisons) are responsive solutions.
Thus, abolition means dismantling the structures tha house people as well as undoing the systems that produce crime and criminality.