[SustainableTompkins] BTD Presents The Injustice System in America

[Glenn Marsh]

----- Original Message ----
From: "senecajean at aol.com" <senecajean at aol.com>
To: sustainabletompkins at lists.mutualaid.org
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:38:02 AM
Subject: [SustainableTompkins] BTD Presents The Injustice System in America


I 
am 
also 
going 
to 
put 
this 
on 
the 
ST 
Calendar 
if 
it's 
not 
already 
there.

Jeanne?




Friday, 
February 
8, 
7:00 
pm 
at 
the 
Trumansburg 
Fire 
Hall

?

Back 
To 
Democracy 
Presents: 

?

The 
Injustice 
System 
in 
America

The 
Injustice 
System 
in 
America 
explores 
issues 
surrounding 
the 
mass 
incarceration 
of 
American 
minorities, 
especially 
African-Americans, 
who 
make 
up 
13% 
of 
the 
U.S. 
population, 
but 
49% 
of 
the 
prison 
population. 
Through 
a 
series 
of 
talking 
heads 
(including 
Van 
Jones 
and 
Professor 
Michelle 
Alexander 
of 
Stanford 
University) 
a 
picture 
of 
what's 
behind 
this 
phenomenon 
is 
revealed. 

?

There 
are 
at 
least 
two 
threads 
of 
American 
culture 
at 
work 
here. 
One 
is 
the 
historical 
trend 
of 
suppression 
of 
minorities. 
Slavery, 
Jim 
Crow 
laws, 
and 
anti-immigrant 
riots 
have 
all 
been 
part 
of 
this 
legacy. 
Recently 
it 
has 
been 
extended 
and 
widened 
through 
"tough 
on 
crime" 
tactics 
such 
as 
over-policing 
of 
minority 
communities, 
harsher 
penalties 
for 
the 
types 
of 
drugs 
more 
likely 
to 
be 
used 
by 
minorities, 
mandatory 
sentencing 
for 
non-violent 
crime, 
racial 
profiling, 
and 
prejudicial 
severity 
in 
every 
step 
of 
the 
justice 
process. 
As 
a 
result, 
our 
prisons 
are 
disproportionately 
populated 
with 
minorities.

?

The 
second 
thread 
evident 
in 
the 
rapid 
increase 
in 
the 
number 
of 
prisons 
and 
prisoners 
is 
the 
development 
of 
mass 
incarceration 
as 
a 
for-profit 
enterprise. 
Building 
prisons 
brings 
money 
and 
jobs 
into 
our 
communities, 
and 
creates 
interest 
groups 
who 
lobby 
for 
stricter 
laws 
in 
order 
to 
keep 
the 
prisoners 
and 
money 
flowing.

?

At 
the 
root 
of 
this 
trend 
is 
the 
ability 
of 
Capitalism 
to 
exploit 
our 
culture's 
refusal 
to 
set 
limits 
on 
the 
"free 
market". 
Like 
permissive 
parents 
who 
sit 
by 
while 
their 
bullying 
child 
gets 
more 
and 
more 
aggressive, 
hoping 
that 
he'll 
"grow 
out 
of 
it", 
we 
are 
unwilling 
to 
restrain 
our 
corporate 
offspring, 
naively 
waiting 
for 
the 
"invisible 
hand" 
to 
correct 
the 
inequities. 
As 
a 
result, 
the 
corporations 
get 
richer, 
more 
powerful, 
and 
ever 
more 
difficult 
to 
control.

?

BTD 
meetings 
are 
free 
and 
open 
to 
all. 
Handicap 
accessible. 
Parking 
in 
the 
Fire 
Hall 
lot, 
but 
please 
do 
not 
block 
the 
firehouse 
doors 
(in 
the 
front 
or 
in 
the 
back). 
Donations 
appreciated.

?

For 
more 
information 
on 
this 
and 
other 
BTD 
activities, 
go 
to 
our 
website

?

www.BackToDemocracy.org



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