To all but the most casual observers, America has a prison problem. The
United States currently has only 4.4% of the world’s population but has
22% of the total number of incarcerated people in the world.[1]In terms
of raw numbers, this means that on any given day, more than two million
people are imprisoned in the United States.[2]Even more surprising is the
fact that over seventy million people in the United States have a criminal
conviction on their record.[3]
Those incarcerated are disproportionally black and brown, with blacks
incarcerated at three times the rate of Hispanics and seven times the rate
of whites.[4]Many will note that 50% of all murders are committed by
black people, even though they only make up 13% of the US population.
[5]However, 75% of total imprisoned are not guilty of violent crimes, and
black and brown people make up a large percentage of those imprisoned.
[6]Due to these competing narratives and the systemic racism that has
pervaded the U.S., many Americans have an unconscious bias against
people of color, especially African Americans and Native Americans.
[7]This bias leads to many blacks have experiences such as those
detailed by Esau McCaulley, who says, “I have been stopped somewhere
between seven and ten times on the road or for existing in public spaces
for no crime other than being Black.”[8]
This does not mean that the bias is intentional. As David Swanson
says, “It’s not that most of us are consciously choosing those racial
biases; they’ve simply attached themselves to our imaginations and
assumptions.”[9]These biases and the experiences of black people with
law enforcement have created atmosphere of fear of policing within black
people that is diametrically opposed to Paul’s words in Romans 13:3-4.
[10]This means that our system as currently structured is not protecting
the innocent, but is instead creating an assumption of guilt that harms
both white people and people of color. This is a problem where the
solution is found as much re-education of people and reformulation of
penal codes as it is solved by alternatives to imprisonment. Proper and
equal application of laws can begin to eliminate the racial inequality that
currently exists within policing.[11]
The best portion of policing for the United States to focus on is
upon deterring criminal activity. The American system is set up to use
punishment as a deterrent for potential lawmakers, and there is a
consensus that prompt and certain punishment does tend to deter crime.
[12]Deterrence does not have to be limited to incarceration. Social
programs, such as drug rehabilitation and job training, can also be
powerful deterrents. These can begin to eliminate the need to commit the
crimes that many are incarcerated for. In addition, for those 75 percent of
crimes that do not involve violence against others, a combination of fines,
loss of privileges, and community service can also be utilized as effective
deterrents in lieu of imprisonment.
Bibliography
Campbell, Douglas A. “Mass Incarceration: Pauline Problems and Pauline
Solutions.”Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology72, no. 3
(2018): 282-292.
McCaulley, Esau.Reading While Black: African American Biblical
Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope."Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2020.
McQuilkin, Robertson and Paul Copan.An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom.Third edition. Downers Grove, IL: IVP
Academic, 2014.
Swanson, David W.Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity
to True Solidarity.Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2020.
Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan.Revolution of Values: Reclaiming the Public
Faith for the Common Good.Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2019.
[1]Douglas A. Campbell, “Mass Incarceration: Pauline Problems and
Pauline Solutions,”Interpretation:A Journal of Bible and Theology72, no.
3 (2018): 282.
[2]Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove,Revolution of Values: Reclaiming the Public
Faith for the Common Good"(Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2019),
91.
[3]Ibid.
[4]Campbell, “Mass Incarceration,” 283.
[5]Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan,An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2014), 441.
[6]Ibid., 437.
[7]David W. Swanson,Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap
Diversity to True Solidarity(Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2020),
12.
[8]Esau McCaulley,Reading While Black: African American Biblical
Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2020), 28.
[9]Swanson,Rediscipling the White Church,12.
[10]McCaulley,Reading Whilte Black,40.
[11]McQuilkin and Copan,Biblical Ethics,"441.
[12]Ibid., 433.
