Conclusion: Meditations on the Current State
What conclusions are students to ultimately draw from all this? The need for change, to be sure. But first, they must consider all the factors, mainly the following.
Part 1: How We Got Here
The condition of modern mass incarceration resulted from gradual acts and decisions that grew over decades. It will be worth asking of students whether we will need decades more to improve it to a more humane state.
We know that people majorly benefit from the system as it is so it will be worth exploring who exactly benefits and what it would take to lobby for change. Is it even possible?
Their own experience: students will need ample time and space to share their own stories. Many of my students, I know from dialogue, have experienced discrimination by police and even been involved in the criminal justice system. Through this study, we will have to establish norms of respect, peace and space for these stories to be shared, through journal writing, class discussion and other activities.
Part 2: Why We Tolerate It
The short answer is, we don’t. The long and storied answer is, because we are forced to. Through study of these texts, we’ll be able to come to conclusions about who the major players are, and which major actions, policies or laws were created to bring us to our current state.
Part 3: What’s Being Done
Lots. All that’s been said here, all that are in these texts and many more – awareness is the first sweeping step, and it is catching. The concept of tension with regard to Civil Rights was touted by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. It is good when it forces us to communicate and to illuminate the social conscious of national ills. Tension and awareness guide dialogue, then action. Who knows what these students will do with our future, whether they will become active participants in national issues. But learning about it, dwelling on it, scrutinizing and analyzing these themes and concepts will at least arm them with the voice they deserve.
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