Marxism and Racism

Introduction

Marxism is the state where the means of production are controlled and owned by the

proletariat. Marxism ideology was proposed by Marx as the next necessary step in historical

progress. Racism is the discrimination of the people due to various factors like race. The paper

seeks to analyze Davis’s article relation with Marxist and Racism, background information from

the text explaining the conflict theory, and the key points made by the writer.

The topic addressed by Davis fits the context of the course materials as it touches on the

racism in prisons and as well the use of prison labor in production. The article clearly articulates

the state avoiding its problems by sending people behind bars, and the major target is always the

people of color. As stated at the beginning of the article, “Almost two million people are

currently locked up in the immense network of U.S. prisons and jails. More than 70 percent of

the imprisoned population are people of color” (Davis, 569). Marxist that is part of the course

materials is also talked about in the article as Davis addressed the use of prison labor. Generally,

the article provides a clear link between the course materials.

People are sent to prison as a means of limiting the ever-growing competition for the

limited resources that is: the conflict theory. Conflict theory is where the society is perceived to

be in a state of perpetual conflict resulting from the competition on the limited natural resources.

The dominant and powerful are hence the rulers in the society. The article illustrates this by the

institution of private prison upon which prisoners are used by the dominant and powerful to

provide cheap labor. Masters are profiting from the prisons and quoting from the text: “As
prisons proliferate in U.S. society, private capital has become enmeshed in the punishment

industry” (Davis, 570). This explains the concept of conflict theory in the article.

Davis, the writer, makes four key points that include the hidden agenda, devouring the

social wealth, prison as an industrial wealth, profiting from prisoners, and the color of

imprisonment. Davis talks profiting from the prisoners as a key point, and in this case, he states

that “precisely because of their profit potential, prisons are becoming increasingly important to

the U.S. economy” (Davis, 570). The other key point is the color of imprisonment, where it is

claimed that most of the prisoners are people of color. As quoted in the article, “More than 70

percent of the imprisoned population are people of color” (Davis, 570). The third key point in

the article is devouring the social wealth where prisoners are used to providing cheap labor.

From the article it is stated that the prisons “devours the social wealth that could be used to

subsidize housing for the homeless, to ameliorate public education for poor and racially

marginalized communities."

Conclusion

There are three major features I have learned from the writing. One is that prisons in the

United States are full of people of color. This is so because the policies and law enforcement

agencies are targeting them. The other feature I have learned is the developing private prison,

which targets the cheap labor from the prisoners. Lastly, it is profiting from these prisoners who,

after providing labor, are either paid less or, in certain cases, not paid. I can hence conclude that

the writing has been able to pinpoint the weakness of the prisons in the United States. It is also

notable that private prison is on the rise to exploit the cheap labor from the prisoners.
 Work Cited

Davis, Angela. "Masked Racism: reflections on the prison industrial complex.[article reprinted

from Colorlines]." Indigenous Law Bulletin 4.27 (2000): 4.