Chapter 2 Of Convicted And Condemned By Keesha Middlemas

In this Reaction Paper, the focus is going to be around “Chapter 2: Guilt” of Halfway Home by Reuban Miller and “Chapter 2: Unwelcome Homecoming” of Convicted and Condemned by Keesha Middlemas. In this particular chapter of Halfway Home, Miller focuses on the different factors that contribute to an individual’s “guilt” through the conversation of racial injustice and personal stories. The chapter begins with an event that occurred in Grand Rapids, Michigan between a group of African American children and a police officer: one in which the officer pulled his firearm on a group of innocent children. This sparks the conversation behind guilt: an authority figure automatically assumed that a group of colored children were guilty based on the “wrong

In Chapter 2 of Convicted and Condemned, Middlemass focuses on the lack of resources ex-convicts are given once released from prison. I found it unfortunate that scholars believe that it’s an individual’s responsibility to take charge in their success or failure, when prisoners are simply released with little to no resources that provide support. If an individual doesn’t have any family support going into the prison system, what does society expect that individual to do upon reentry? As discussed in lecture, a prisoner is assigned a “jacket” and treated a certain way by correctional officers based on their track record. This becomes a prisoner’s identity: their self-worth and individual identity not even given a second thought. Prisoners are also condemned to a small area in essentially unlivable conditions; unprepared them for their return upon the outside world. Middlemass also recounts the effects of PTSD upon ex-inmates and the simple hunger for survival it invokes in them: a dog eats dog metaphor for the societal conditions prisoners must face with one

Through the personal stories that Miller shared, it’s obvious that racial profiling plays a large role in arrest rates and cycles of incarceration. While the world has made a significant stride in racial injustices in comparison to the country’s past, racism still exists. When, and how, is this going to end? This is an important factor to consider in both aspects of the incarceration system and reentry process, as racial profiling occurs in both. Also, the true cause of guilt is important to consider as many people are falsely accused. 1/20 criminal cases result in a wrongful conviction, so what’s the cause of this? Individuals are assumed guilty based on a variety of factors: race, economic class, location, family background, and physical appearance. It’s important that these factors are not taken into consideration when convicting an individual with a crime, an important topic of the specified chapter. Furthermore, in Chapter 2 of Convicted and Condemned, the concepts of “living in a cage” and “the first day home” stuck out to me. The conflict of fairness behind locking a criminal in a confined space can be heavily debated, so what’s the right answer? Confining an individual to a small space for years on end can be detrimental to a person’s physical and mental well being, let alone their perception of the world upon reentry into society. There’s no clear