In the 1960s, President Johnson called for his infamous war on crime. On the surface, this agenda seemed productive and progressive, aiming to make improvements on criminal justice and keeping America safe. To the public, this was the proactive action that would improve their country, but the reality was a racially-driven, hateful movement intended to criminalize Black people. By the 1970s, Nixon was campaigning on a war on drugs, yet another effort to criminalize Black people, and depict them as dangerous drug-spreading criminals. Although these movements aren't mainstream anymore, the history lives on and is impacting our current society. 

The history and basis of the prison system is founded on racism and racism still continues to be pursued through the judicial system because of prejudice, so fixing that issue is only possible with the knowledge of the historical reason. Because as a country we have not addressed  the history of what our prison system stems from and is built off of, we haven't been able to make progress. The issues within the prison system are all stemming from racism, and the only way to solve it is through acknowledgement and understanding of the past. We know this to be true because past systems have recognized historic flaws, and made change from it with success. 

The documentary 13th says it best, describing the history of how the prison system is founded on racism. 13th is a film that dives into the reason we have the issues with racism we do today, and the historical context as to why this is such a big social issue. As explained in the film, the prison system started with the abolition of slavery. This resulted in an increased need for manual labor, but no one to do it. Quickly, there was a loophole found in the Constitution that allowed for slave-like labor to be used, but disguised as punishment for crime. The Constitution states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” From this came the beginning of unnecessary arrests being made against Black people to reinstate a form of slavery. Quickly, everyday acts would be seen as a crime, and Black communities would be targeted as the group to arrest for these “illegal” actions, which in a way restarted slavery. This was used to rebuild the Southern economy that struggled after the abolition of slavery. Later, Nixon created the concept of “war on drugs,” which was code for war on Black people. This “war on drugs” criminalized an incredibly large number of Black people and in turn developed an association with Black people and crime. Today, not only the association with Black people and crime exists, but the lasting disproportionate rates of Black people in prisons. The Black population in America is only 13.6%, but a staggering 38.5% in the incarceration system. This can all be sourced back to a history of racist efforts made by our government that continue today.  

Throughout history, we’ve seen many examples of how turning a blind eye to a major societal issue has backfired into a never-ending cycle of oppression. In the case of United States v. Paradise (1987), it was debated whether or not to uphold a promotion “scheme” that enforced a one-to-one white to Black promotion system in the Alabama Department of Public Safety. The end decision in this case was to uphold the scheme, because it was “required in light of the Department's long and shameful record of delay and resistance.” It's a perfectly acceptable response to an issue to acknowledge the past to move forward. We as a country have refused to do this in regards to the prison system, although the benefits we would see from acknowledging the past would be substantial. 

However, United States v. Paradise is not the only example of the power that acknowledging the past can hold. The first abolition movement that abolished slavery is all the proof we need that recognition of misdoings lead to social progress. The original abolition movement was an acknowledgement of the reality and horror of the ownership of slaves, and an effort to compensate for the past. It is also well recognized as an important success towards equality. The abolition of slavery was an important reparation to a long history of mistreatment, so applying that same thought process to current social issues is a reputable method of achieving change. We saw that throwing out a whole system can be necessary, and although the first attempt at abolition wasn't fully successful, we now can attempt to do it with more success. 

As we know, action has been taken on a personal level to attempt to make the world a more accepting and inclusive place. Nevertheless, there comes a time that actual systematic reform must occur, and that time is now. We've seen the success that can come from addressing past mistakes and inequalities, so moving forward with the goal of real structural change to the legal systems that are in place is a clear path to success. We can achieve justice through reform as history has proven, but now it will take a real change in the outlook Americans have on the incarceration system to achieve the ultimate freedom. Through activism, reflection, and active efforts to bring this issue to the eyes of our leaders, we can finally obtain equality.