Karell Wisseh
Professor Wu
English 1101 CO D146
November 5, 2024
RAB Source Entry #2
Part 1: MLA Format:
Weber, Benjamin. “The Critical Need to Teach the History of Mass Incarceration.” TIME, 20 Nov. 2023, https://time.com/6337002/teaching-mass-incarceration-essay/.
PART 2 Summary:
In the article “The Critical Need to Teach the History of Mass Incarceration,” Benjamin Weber shows an example of the concern over teaching mass incarceration in the education system and argues that this is precisely why the issue needs to be more widely addressed. Weber states, “ Pressure to remove topics like mass incarceration from school curricula in places like Florida and from the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) African American History course reveals precisely why we must continue teaching it. Those pushing censorship are afraid of mass incarceration for the same reason they’re afraid of the history of slavery: Because reckoning with these histories raises the moral imperative to repair them.” Weber then threads into his Credentials and Highlights his Experience as a college-level teacher who has taught the subject of mass incarceration for over a decade. He then transitions into his claim “Mass incarceration is the clearest afterlife of slavery.” He moves into quoting W.E.B Dubious where he says “spawn of slavery.” Federal, state, and local policies perpetuated racism in the prison system from 1865 until 1925, otherwise known as the convict leasing era, through the Civil Rights-Black Power era, and racial criminalization reached another nadir in the “tough-on-crime” and War-on-Drug eras.” He then shifts to into Using modern-day statistics where he states “ The rise of mass incarceration was marked by skyrocketing rates of imprisonment, growing by 400% from 1970 to 2000, and racial disparity, as police continue disproportionately to stop, shoot, and imprison Black Americans.” He then inserts his Own Research where he says “ My own research has shown that mass incarceration arose from slavery and successive eras of empire building across continental North America, the Caribbean, and Pacific Oceans. The Black chain gangs of the deep South appear little different from the Black road gangs in the Panama Canal Zone during the same period.” Weber then shifts into highlighting the importance of teaching mass-incarceration.“Teaching a global perspective not only increases the urgency of these questions, it can offer them a wider range of alternative solutions. Black-led social movements recognized this. Members of the Black Panthers saw how their communities were governed like internal colonies, and how overseas colonies were treated like geographic prisons. Many of the same intellectuals and activists on the frontlines of protesting prison imperialism, also developed plans for repairing the harms of slavery and unjust imprisonment.” Weber then Concludes his text with Recent reparations proposals across local, state, and national levels that seek to address the impacts of racial injustice, including mass incarceration and economic inequality, with examples in cities like Chicago and Evanston. California’s Reparations Task Force emphasizes aligning recommendations with international standards, drawing lessons from countries like Germany and South Africa. However, achieving nationwide reparations requires broader efforts, raising concerns about the impact of banning discussions on these issues in schools, and limiting young people’s ability to engage with them.
Part 3: Rhetorical Analysis:
Weber’s audience is the United States Justice System, The American education system, and everyone. His Purpose is to Educate people so they can understand the severity of how slavery is still deeply embedded in the United States through mass incarceration. The reason this Article was written is that this educator is starting to get very concerned in America that they want to start censoring subjects like this The Genre is a Opinion Article. Webere uses the rhetorical tools of Logos to convey the facts and evidence to the audience and educate them on the serious circumstances regarding mass incarceration.Time is generally considered a credible source of news and information. Time magazine has a long history of journalistic integrity, founded in 1923, and is known for its in-depth reporting on politics, culture, business, and global issues. Time.com is the digital arm of the publication, maintaining the same standards of editorial oversight as the print magazine.And this Article is Very Recent as it was Published in November 2023.
Part 4 Notable Quotables:
“Mass incarceration is the clearest afterlife of slavery. The exception for “slavery and involuntary servitude” to continue to be used as punishment for crime was reinscribed in federal law following slavery’s formal abolition”
“We are living in a world created by slavery and colonialism, still dominated by “global racial empire” as philosopher Olufemi O. Taiwo puts it. Because the root causes of oppression and injustice are global, so must be efforts to repair the harms.”
“Pressure to remove topics like mass incarceration from school curricula in places like Florida and from the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) African American History course reveals precisely why we must continue teaching it.”
good!