I want to do a TEDtalk about my views on Racial Inequality and the Mass Incarceration System to inspire and educate the public.
Audience
Durango’s community; students, teachers
Rationale
Racial Inequality is something that I am super passionate about. This project sparked opinions, and thoughts in my mind about how people of color (whether they are Native, Black, or Mexican) are treated in today’s society, and how they were treated a long time ago. I believe that it is important for people to understand the history of Mass Incarceration, the struggles that African Americans have gone through, and what struggles they are still facing today. There are so many things that should be taught and aren’t being taught. I want to make an impact in the community. I want people to know. To really understand what mass incarceration is, and how race makes up so much of it, since the late 1800s.
Rough Outline of Speech
History of Eastern State
It started in 1829.
Eastern state is the most influential prison in the world.
Eastern State helped shape the other penitentiary systems, later on, creating the conditions for mass incarceration.
The part that Race has in it
A third of American prisoners are black.
Jim Crow and Black code laws - System was created to enslave black people all over again, but to the state
13th amendment loophole
After the Civil War, black people were more likely to be in prison than white people
Mass incarceration today
Over the past 40 years, mass incarceration rates have increased by 500%
2013 58% of all inmates were African American and Hispanic
In 2014, African American men constituted 34% of the total of 6.4 million prisons in the US
Conclusion
Ways to reduce Mass Incarceration
Eliminate prisoners with lower crime levels
Reduce sentence minimums depending the crime that is committed