PRISON ONLY ENCOURAGES RACISM AND VIOLENCE

Currently serving 39 years in federal prison at ADX Florence (Supermax) in Colorado for a videotaped firebombing of a synogoguge in an effort to encourage race war in America, Sean Gillespie has renounced the views that led him to such a crime and now writes to speak on avoiding the traps he fell into. Today, he writes about how prison isn’t exactly helping with that.

Sean Gillespie

In any normal society, prison is supposed to provide punishment and rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is defined as “restoring someone to a normal life by training and therapy during or after imprisonment” Most countries in the civilized world today follow and recognize this example as the way prisons should be ran. In America however, more often than not the focus is instead on mass incarceration for profit. Administrative-backed policies that only increase racism or violence and in the federal system denial of parole along with a limited amount of yearly good time (54 days a year).

Examples of these abuses and the deficiencies in the federal prison system are too numerous to enumerate upon in this article. However a few should be mentioned to prove a point. In the eight years I have been incarcerated, I have seen many firsthand. First is the corruption within the administration of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Under the former FBOP director Henry Lappin, who “retired” last year after a DUI conviction, violence in prison only rose, including a 2008 race riot involving over 200 inmates at USP Florence, which was due in part by the administrative-backed racism at that institution. This corruption used by Mr. Lappin is now evident in his use of position he now has as Director of Correction Corporations of America (CCA). In a March 8 USA Today article, Mr. Lappin was accused of using his former position to aquire a contract for CCA only if the prison population at his private for profit prisons were kept at90% capacity.

As I mentioned above, the race riot at USP Florence involved 200 or so people. What is not really known is the part of the government itself played in that race riot through its administrative policies. I was at USP Florence from October 2005 until October 2007. During that time, I watched the systematic segregation of inmates including separate chow lines, seating and cell assignment. In every aspect of daily life race was a separating factor. White supremacists used the chapel to photo copy racist literature including National Alliance’s Resistance Magazine and in fact had racist CDs in the “Odinist religious locker, including such bands as Brutal Attack, Skrewdriver and Midtown Bootboys, all of which have songs advocating racial violence.

It is really no surprise then that on Adolf Hitler’s birthday drunken white prisoners started a race riot? In fact, both of the “main line” prisons I have been to, and to a limited degree the Florence ADX Supermax in which I now reside, have advocated racial segregation to a degree that only further encourages racism, violence and the like.

Each year these policies along with the denial or parole or an acceptable amount of good time benefits (currently 54 days per year) only created violent racist criminals for the future. I myself as a now former racist was given no help to change my views, despite the fact my victim, lawyer, prosecutor and judge all requested this so. My change came after years of further prison violence racism and could have continued on forever had I not made a choice to see the errors in my thinking.

Each day this choice could be given to other inmates instead of fostering violent racist tendencies. W should all make the choice to say we are tired of this state-sponsored racist prison system and write out elected leaders for change that is overdrive in our society. Promotion of racism should never be an option and we should never allow it in any form including in our prisons.