d d 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] d 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]
d d d d d d d d d d 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]
d d d d d d d d d d 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] d 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 Theology 72, 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 Theology 72, 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.
