The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that California's policy of segregating incoming inmates by race should be scrutinized closely because otherwise it could "undermine our unceasing efforts to eradicate racial prejudice from our criminal justice system."
But I'm a white man who served 37 months at San Quentin (for the manufacture of methamphetamine) and eight months more (on a parole violation) at the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, and I think that the court is well intentioned but misguided.
California prisons separate blacks, whites, Latinos and "others" because the truth is that mixing races and ethnic groups in cells would be extremely dangerous for inmates.
I don't say this because I'm a racist; I honestly believe that I'm one of the least prejudiced people I know. But prison is an undeniably racist place, and court rulings aren't going to stop it. Inmates who value their own safety must quickly learn to put political correctness aside and to follow certain clearly defined, if unwritten, rules for survival.
Rule No. 1: The various races and ethnic groups stick together.
Inmates face a huge amount of racial tension every day in prison. Living in such close proximity to others of different backgrounds and cultures -- and the fact that these people, whatever their race or ethnicity, are likely to be from the least educated and most violent segment of society -- makes minor differences that might normally be overlooked larger and more significant.
If a black inmate attacks a white inmate in prison, it is considered the responsibility of other white inmates to respond. This provides some measure of protection for those inmates who are not members of any gang but who do not wish to become prey for those who are. You and I may not like it, but that's how it is.
The court ruling will mainly affect prisoners in "reception centers" who are in a "sorting" or processing period before being sent to the prison where they will serve out the majority of their sentences. This includes returning parole violators as well as those going to prison for the first time. Once they leave a reception center, most of them will go to prisons with dormitory-style housing because the costs of housing inmates in cells is much higher than keeping them in dorms. Cells are reserved for the most violent inmates, inmates who have especially long sentences ahead of them and those who are considered escape risks. But until they're sorted out, all inmates live in cells -- cell living is every prisoner's introduction to prison life.
