“The current American prison system is a leviathan unmatched in human history.” (Loury, 4). A leviathan; a beast as old as the book of Job, and even when made a myth, incessantly feared. A leviathan, an immovable force by which any hope of subduing is false, and the mere sight of is overpowering. Made to be an indestructible being, “king over all that are proud,” a leviathan doesn’t just describe the American prison system, but the institution racism has created in America as a whole. Prison, and imprisonment, are aspects of the systematic racism that built the United States. This system relies on internalization, prolonged manipulation, and fear. This system is a result of the white perception of the black body. And because of how effective
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His poem, “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” addresses the fear that one can endure when incarcerated; fear of others, and others’ fear of you. In the poem, Hard Rock is physically large and emotionally resilient convict, who the others admire because of his tough attitude. But prior to an incident during which he bites a guard and gives him syphilis, Hard Rock is lobotomized and forced to endure electro-shock therapy, after which he, “Just grinned and looked silly,/His eyes empty like knot holes in a fence.” The loss of Hard Rock crushed the other inmates, “He had been our Destroyer, the doer of things/We dreamed of doing but could not bring ourselves to do,” and they were once again forced to know the Struggle. Brutality inside and outside of the American prison system has been used as a method to remind the black community to remember the Struggle, the hopelessness that forces many to settle for their circumstances or attempt to make the best of them, either of which can result in their incarceration. Such a system relies on that cycle, “Incarceration begets more incarceration, and incarceration also begets more crime, which in turn invites more aggressive enforcement, which then re-supplies incarceration…” (Loury, 19) and the ignorance of those who truly have the power to stop
His poem, “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” addresses the fear that one can endure when incarcerated; fear of others, and others’ fear of you. In the poem, Hard Rock is physically large and emotionally resilient convict, who the others admire because of his tough attitude. But prior to an incident during which he bites a guard and gives him syphilis, Hard Rock is lobotomized and forced to endure electro-shock therapy, after which he, “Just grinned and looked silly,/His eyes empty like knot holes in a fence.” The loss of Hard Rock crushed the other inmates, “He had been our Destroyer, the doer of things/We dreamed of doing but could not bring ourselves to do,” and they were once again forced to know the Struggle. Brutality inside and outside of the American prison system has been used as a method to remind the black community to remember the Struggle, the hopelessness that forces many to settle for their circumstances or attempt to make the best of them, either of which can result in their incarceration. Such a system relies on that cycle, “Incarceration begets more incarceration, and incarceration also begets more crime, which in turn invites more aggressive enforcement, which then re-supplies incarceration…” (Loury, 19) and the ignorance of those who truly have the power to stop