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Resisting Internalized Oppression: Black Women's Perceptions of Incarceration DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences 8-2012 Resisting internalized oppression: Black women's perceptions of incarceration Emily R. Williams DePaul University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd Recommended Citation Williams, Emily R., "Resisting internalized oppression: Black women's perceptions of incarceration" (2012). College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations. 133. https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/133 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RESISTING INTERNALIZED OPPRESSION: BLACK WOMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF INCARCERATION A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts August 2012 BY Emily Williams Resisting Internalization 2 RUNNING HEAD: RESISTING INTERNALIZATION & BLACK WOMEN Resisting Internalized Oppression: Formerly Incarcerated Black Women’s Perceptions of Incarceration Resisting Internalization 3 Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….4 Resisting Internalization………………………………………………………………………...5 Two Differing Analyses of Black women’s incarceration from formerly incarcerated Black Women……………………………………………………………………………………….7 Incarcerated Black Women………………………………………………………………….7 Hierarchies of Oppression: Black feminist Frameworks………………………………………..13 Intra-Community Marginalization……………………………………………………………..19 Suppressing Identity, Masking Racism, & Advancing Myths: Neoliberal Capitalism…………23 Neoliberal Foundations for Black Women’s Incarceration & the PIC……………………….23 Neoliberal Capitalist Processes of Criminalization…………………………………………...29 Neoliberal Production of Criminalized Markets……………………………………………...30 Negative Effects of the PIC on Black Women………………………………………………….33 Education and Employment…………………………………………………………………..36 The PIC & the Role of Racial Identity in Movement-Building………………………………...39 Prison Abolition Analyses of the PIC………………………………………………………...40 Methods………………………………………………………………………………………..46 Conducting Research with Black Women……………………………………………………46 Data Collection………………………………………………………………………………49 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………...51 Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………….53 Endangered Black Male Narratives & Politics of Loyalty…………………………………..53 Neoliberal Conceptions of Personal Wealth…………………………………………………58 Resisting Internalization 4 Question 2……………………………………………………………………………………..63 Internalized Responsibility…………………………………………………………………..64 Individual Perceived Benefits of Incarceration………………………………………………68 Critical Consciousness & Political Analyses…………………………………………………69 Question 3………………………………………………………………………………………72 Resistance, Activism, & Resilience…………………………………………………………..73 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………78 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………85 References………………………………………………………………………………………95 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………102 Resisting Internalization 5 Abstract In 2010, I attended two anti-incarceration events where formerly incarcerated Black women spoke against incarceration. While it seemed to me that the motivation to engage in anti-incarceration resistance could only allow for so much variance, I soon became painfully aware of the vital importance of considering formerly incarcerated Black women’s stories while being critical of the broader contexts of American history and dominant political-economic paradigms. Specifically, as a result of synthesizing the messages I received at each of these events, I understood the importance of utilizing a politicized racial consciousness when considering the context within which Black women are the fastest growing population in American prisons (Roberts, 2012). Black women’s politicized racial consciousness becomes important as similarities are uncovered between chattel slavery (and other pre-civil rights anti-black racist institutions like Jim Crow segregation) and contemporary incarceration practices in America (Alexander, 2010, Davis, 2010). The connections made between historic anti-black institutions and contemporary incarceration practices compel many to re-engage a Radical Black Feminist tradition and call for a broad-based movement to abolish the contemporary prison system. In anti-incarceration resistance, a politicized racial consciousness would allow a formerly incarcerated Black woman to perceive herself within a larger context of American socio-cultural institutions, to identify systemic racism as it relates to her life experience, and to formulate oppositional positioning against systemic anti-black racism (Brush, 2005). In this thesis, I argue that one critical step in anti-incarceration movement-building will be to invest considerable organizing efforts that politicize formerly incarcerated Black women’s racial consciousnesses. Resisting Internalization 6 Resisting Internalized Responsibility: Formerly Incarcerated Black Women’s Perceptions of Incarceration Black women’s incarceration has been highly politicized in recent years. Much prison abolition research and analyses of the prison industrial complex (PIC) demonstrate that several systemic, political and economic factors contribute to Black women becoming incarcerated (Crenshaw, 2012; Davis, 2003, 2010; Sudbury, 2004, 2009). Davis (2005) suggests that one formidable step in dismantling the prison system will be to challenge mainstream perceptions that the logic of the prison is “self-evident” and that prisons are necessary to keep society safe (p.91). Intersectional analyses that focus on incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women’s lives have challenged mainstream notions of crime and defied simplistic notions about individuals who “choose” to participate in crime and subsequently become incarcerated. Primarily through life history methodology, this foundational body of research has illustrated the complexity of Black women’s lives in economically disenfranchised contexts. Furthermore, this work is consistent with prison abolition perspectives that follow Black feminist traditions as it has captured the inequity created by systemic processes in the lives of Black women who are in danger of becoming incarcerated, are incarcerated, or formerly incarcerated. Also, this body of research reveals the inadequacy of American institutions and systems for Black women whose lives are intricately intertwined with criminal legal processes and systems. The women’s lives are often impacted by systemic racial violence, experiences with male physical and sexual abuse, and participation in illegal markets to survive (Richie, 1996; 2012). However, this body of work has not explicitly considered incarcerated or formerly incarcerated Black women’s perceptions Resisting Internalization 7 of guilt and responsibility within the context of the PIC for the purposes of informing prison abolition movement-building strategy. Incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women’s ideological perceptions of and political analyses about crime and incarceration are important. Formerly incarcerated Black women could form a broad political base with which to populate a robust prison abolition movement. While their stories have been used to challenge dominant perceptions of crime and criminality, efforts to explore Black women’s perceptions of crime and criminality as it relates to their own experiences have been under-included in the research. This dynamic is important to explore with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women. Despite the overwhelming presence of institutions in their lives, they too are susceptible to internalizing mainstream ideological perceptions about the necessity for prisons to keep society safe. The potential for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women to have perceptions of responsibility that are consistent with mainstream ideology about crime and incarceration seems to have the potential to undermine prison abolition movement-building. Specifically, if formerly incarcerated Black women believe that they are responsible for becoming incarcerated, even though prison abolitionists assert that the PIC is responsible for the disproportionate number of Black women becoming incarcerated, this becomes a fundamental challenge to building a prison abolition movement that centers Black women’s experiences and voices. The following juxtaposition of analyses about how Black women become incarcerated and who/what is responsible illustrates this contention. Two Differing Analyses of Black Women’s Incarceration from formerly Incarcerated Black Women Resisting Internalization 8 In 2010, when I attended a lecture given by Angela Davis for Black History Month, I was introduced to the concept of prison abolition. Determined and eager to take full advantage of the privilege of being a graduate student in Chicago, I proudly sat in the front row while Davis gave a lecture on the prison industrial complex. Learning about the prison industrial complex as Davis (2005) defines it, “…the coordinated expansion of prisons, corporate involvement, provisioning of goods and services, and the use of prison labor resulting in the generation of vast amounts of capital,” had a radicalizing effect on me (p.4). From this analysis,
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