Working on my final paper has allowed me to process much of the previously discussed ideas into a more compact, concise stream of thinking. In considering the centrality of race in mass incarceration, the discussions we had about racial bias and passing have come into play. I've been focusing on the accessibility of healthcare within the prison industrial complex for women of color, which relates to our lectures on the intersectional nature of identities. It would be naive to make the assumption that all women face the same structural barriers once released from prison — black women are largely ostracized from civil society and lack employment opportunities while their white counterparts find it relatively easier to regain their place in their respective communities.
Women in prison often feel that they play a minor, insignificant role as a cog in the capitalist machine, or the private corporations that feed on their labor. Given a lack of regulations on prison labor and the number of inmates held at many private prisons, multiple companies have seen the incarceration binge as a growth opportunity, expanding their businesses by breaking into a previously unexplored category. By focusing on the specific narratives of women and their struggles within prison, I'm hoping to be able to highlight the failures of a system that has enabled the creation of a new race divide. While the federal government hides behind a banner of democracy, free will, and self-determination, the state has systematically reinforced the disadvantaged position of minority groups by licensing out prisoners as a cheap labor force and failing to create effective rehabilitation programs.