One of the recent visitors to our university, Dr. Angela Davis, a UC Santa Cruz professor, delivered a speech last Monday, March 3, 2008, at California State University in Monterey Bay at the University Center on Sixth Avenue in Seaside. Dr. Davis is internationally known for her work in fighting all forms of oppression. Her speech “Women and the Ongoing Challenge to Racism” was a part of the university’s Diversity Days celebration. She lectured about violence in society, the struggles and abuse of the minority immigrants, the abuse against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders as well as the abuse against incarcerated women, which are all oppressed minority groups that are apart from mainstream America.
Dr. Davis’ eye-opening speech captured my awareness on the abuse that is happening under our noses that our society refuses to examine. The abuses against these members of our society clearly do exist even today in this era of globalization, neoliberalism, and postcolonialism. She urged us to look at our current justice and penal systems and the way the oppressed members of our society are being treated.
Indeed, there are many minority groups that do not belong to the major mainstream America who are still experiencing rampant violence each day! For one thing, violence against women that has been going on for ages and has been widely tolerated for a very long time, in my opinion, is an absolute injustice! Until I listened to Dr. Davis’ speech did I become more aware of these abuses to women, especially those who are marginalized by our society – the incarcerated. I now have a clearer understanding of the conditions of women in prison and the sexual assaults that they suffer from and the clear indifference of our society toward them. It is a part of our everyday existence that I have never been aware of and did not pay attention to because of a lack of exposure whether through readings or a lack of personal experience from friends or acquaintances. But it is there, unfortunately. Violence exists. The abuses exist. Nevertheless, now that I have been made aware of its ugly existence, in my opinion, it is definitely wrong.
The unjust and abusive treatment of the women should be examined. I believe that we should treat our women prisoners with dignity and guide them to become responsible citizens, and they will act like responsible citizens. If they are treated like animals, they will act like animals. This awareness leads me to a conclusion that there is still so much work to do in this battle of fighting for the rights, not just of women but the rights of all oppressed groups. It is an ongoing battle to achieve a just and humane society in order for all human beings to be treated with dignity and respect. There is definitely a need to fight for the rights of all oppressed members of our society, the minorities who are not part of mainstream America, and those who do not get a good deal in our country. We need not close our eyes on the realities that brute force is being applied to the immigrants, the gays, the lesbians, the bisexuals, the transgenders, and the women in our society whether they have been in prison or not.
Through Dr. Davis’ story, she shed light on the stories of others. Her lecture speech and the new ideas that I am learning in my Free Speech class are all things that I am grateful for. I never knew how blessed I am until I see that others’ freedom are non-existent. I have no reason to take for granted the freedom that I have now. I pledge to continually educate myself because it is only through education that one’s eyes are opened to the shortcomings of our society. I agreed with her statement that “our educational system is responsible for the stunning ignorance of the history and literature of the oppressed members of our society.” The most important history of the marginalized people is history that is only achieved through our imagination -- such histories seldom exist.
Who else could speak better about a topic such as the rights and the incarceration of women, but a person who could actually relate to the experiences of those who have been in prison? Dr. Davis spent time in jail, according to her, in the 1970s. She mentioned that today, there is a disproportionate number of women prisoners in men’s prisons! And how about those who are incarcerated who do not identify with genitalia, and those who do not conform to our society’s standards and categorizations? She mentioned about violence that is being perpetuated against transgenders, and women who have been assigned to men’s prisons! These things are real and are present in our society; they have to be approached similarly to the Abolitionist Approach. We have a culture of sexual violence, which became a part of the apparatus that makes the prison system running, which is sad but true. The primary idea that I picked up from her speech was that everything is about a legacy of struggles. For every 100 persons in the U. S., there is one person who is confined in prison doing time. And there are 2.3 million people in prison today! California alone has the highest rate of incarceration in the whole nation!
The privatization of the prison system that has created the situation that is driven by profit making and capitalism in the penal system must go away! We have no place for capitalism in our justice system. I strongly agree with Dr. Angela Davis that there are other approaches to the current prison situation. She believes that our society needs to build solidarity and community. I believe that as Americans, we should demand that our justice and penal systems be overhauled to bring humanity and fairness to our world.
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