SEO: Women of color and mass incarceration

Women of color targeted by criminal justice system

Students and Scholars discuss discrepancies in Criminal Justice System
By Nicholas Smith
A wave of silence fell upon the room as moderator Psyche Williams-Forson called
the forum to order. Both university students and faculty were eager to begin the
discussion centered on the discrimination faced by women of color in the U.S. Criminal
Justice System.
On March 10, 2014, Busboys and
Poets on Route 1 hosted a community
forum, Women of Color and Mass
Incarceration, for the universitys
Womens Studies Department to raise
awareness of racial disparities that exist
within the U.S. Criminal Justice System.
The forum featured guest speakers Nikki
Jones, an associate professor at the
University of California, Berkeley; Ashley

Ashley McSwain, Andrea James, and Nikki

Jones discuss the disparities that exist in the
U.S. Criminal Justice System.
Photo source
www.facebook.com/busboysandpoets

McSwain, President of Consultants for

Change Inc.; and Andrea James, author and former criminal defense attorney.

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Mass incarceration of colored women

James began the discussion by outlining disparities that exist within the U.S.
Criminal Justice System that negatively affect women of color and how these disparities
came into existence. She pinpointed the notorious War on Drugs as the largest
perpetrator for increased incarceration among colored women.
Women got up caught up in the crack laws, which were originally mainly
targeted towards the African American male population, James said. Incarceration rates
for women shot up. Now, 1 in 19 black women can expect to be imprisoned during their
lifetime.
Jones added that this sharp period of increased incarceration rates laid the
foundation for racial stereotypes to exist in the system. She described society as being
conditioned by the criminal justice system, automatically perceiving an African
American woman as a criminal.

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Negative effects
Over the next hour, the guest speakers discussed the magnitude of effect that
incarceration has on women of color.
McSwain said even though the War on Drugs targeted African American men,
which resulted in a higher percentage of male incarceration, women are subject to a
higher degree of suffering once they become victims of the criminal justice system.

When women go to prison, many did not have a solid foundation, McSwain
said. When they return home, they return to that same lack of foundation and receive
very little help to build their lives back up.
Women cannot come back home and sleep on their mothers couch like men
can, Jones added. Their male counterparts have a better support system for when they
reenter society.
Jones concluded the forum discussing the negative public perception of
individuals who are labeled convicts.
People create narratives about individuals that define them in their absence,
Jones said. They are assigned that label, and it is difficult to change it. Its almost
impossible.
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SEO: Andrea James tells her prison experience

Former criminal defense attorney describes life behind bars
Andrea James tells audience members about her prison experience
By Nicholas Smith

When you incarcerate a woman, you incarcerate more than just that one
individual. You incarcerate her friends. You incarcerate her family. You incarcerate her
children, guest speaker Andrea Jones said during the Women of Color and Mass
Incarceration community forum.
Jones revealed to university students and faculty that in 2009, she was disbarred
as an attorney and ordered to serve a 24-month prison sentence. She did not disclose the
reasons behind her incarceration.
A mother of two, Jones described her
experience of leaving her children as one of the
most difficult experiences of her life.
When I went to the prison to turn myself
in, I had to leave my 5-month-old son and 12year-old daughter in the car, she said. The
heaviness of women missing their children is
unbearable.
James said that no one should force a a
woman to leave her children behind, but she
encountered many women in prison who did.

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James book Upper Bunkies Unite

describes her experience as an
incarcerated African-American
woman.
Photo source www.airshipdaily.com

Women are more than 70 percent of the primary caregivers prior to

incarceration, Jones said. Mothers leaving their children destabilize households and
shred the fabric of the community.
James said both family support and her desire to be with her children again is the
only way she survived incarceration. She emphasized that a large majority of incarcerated
women do not have strong support systems and close-knit relationships to get them
through the prison system, and as a result, many women suffer harsh trauma or develop
long-lasting mental illnesses or other health problems.
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