Angela Davis Life In Prison Analysis

"Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo - obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other." (Davis BrainyQuote.com) "Poor people, people of color - especially are much more likely to be found in prison than in institutions of higher education."(Davis, BrainyQuote.com) These two quotes, both by the Afro-American civil-right activist, philosopher, human scientist and author Angela Davis, show what she thinks about the American prison system. But how exactly does she refer to this polarizing topic? Why does she see it that way? What motivated her to say these things? Why is she in a place that actually makes her opinion valid? …show more content…
Also this is where the term "modern slavery" appears as in the following there will be many elements that connect imprisonment and slavery. Even though the term mostly describes conditions in non-industrial countries (e.g. forced marriage in India can be described as modern or contemporary slavery) it can also be used for establishments like the prison complex, that are seen as institutions of slavery by their critics. To give a structured overview of the main statements they are subdivided into different …show more content…
Angela Davis believes that the fact that prisoners being disenfranchised became common to the people in America is rooted in slavery.(see Davis, Abolition Democracy 38) She says: "A white contemporary of slavery might have remarked: "Of course slaves weren't supposed to vote. They weren't full citizens." In the same way people think today,