overcrowded, largely African American, non-violent offence, prisoners that fill our prisons providing cheap labor for large corporations with private contracts. Businesses whose profit opportunities depend not only on efficient management, but also upon the number of prisoners in their cells benefit profoundly from this source of cheap and sometimes free labor. Another critical aspect of how the prison industrial complex keeps the labor is apparent in the over crowding of American prisons. Correctional officials may see danger in prisons overcrowding, but large corporations see it as opportunity. The nearly $2 million Americans behind bars mostly non-violent drug offenders means jobs for prisoners and a bonus for corporations. While incarceration statistics have skyrocketed, crime rates have increased much more slowly. Among those arrested for violent crimes, the proportion who are African American men have changed very little over the past twenty years. Among those arrested for drug crimes, the proportion that are African American have tripled. Although drug abuse among white males are approximately the same, black men are five times more likely to be arrested for a drug offense. As a result of this, African Americans constitute about half of the inmates here in the United States. One out of every 14 black men is likely to be imprisoned at some point during his lifetime.Another astonishing fact that this brings to the surface is that a large percentage of African American men will permanently lose their right to vote if current trends continue. In nine states, one in every four black men can never vote again because they were convicted of a felony. In states such as Washington, felons automatically lose the right to vote but may petition for the reinstatement of that right. This loss of voting rights shows the decreasing political power of blacks in America.African Americans must take action before it s too late. We mus...
