Since Marc Mauer first published Race to Incarcerate in 1999, American prison populations have stabilized and, in the last couple of years, even declined modestly. This is mostly due to recent economic downtrends and consequent cost-saving measures that impose constructive versus punitive approaches to sentencing. Yet, as a new edition of this landmark work--featuring the starkly drawn imagery of graphic artist Sabrina Jones--shows us, much more can be done.
Mauer's first edition took a hard look at the policies influencing rising prison populations in the 1990s, the result of "tough on crime" movements that funneled streams of money into the prison industry while doing little to address underlying social problems and inequities. Little has changed; disparities are still apparent within minority populations, particularly in area of drug enforcement where a two-tiered system offers a slap on the wrist for the "haves" and incarceration for the "have-nots."
Jones's gritty illustrations punctuate Mauer's main points. The result is a searing indictment of divisive policies and empty rhetoric. Throughout the short narrative, it is obvious that Mauer and Jones still believe that change can prevail--and that if politicians would only remove the blinders and make much needed investments toward the future, they would see that continued incarceration does nothing to heal the demographic divide. --Nancy Powell, freelance writer and technical consultant