The document discusses the relationship between white supremacy and the U.S. correctional system. It describes how overcrowding in prisons has led to the growth of white supremacist gangs that recruit inmates for protection. These gangs promote racist ideologies both in prison and after release. The document also examines how racism is institutionalized in prisons through discriminatory treatment of black inmates and hiring of racist guards. It argues that the isolated prison environment and failure to rehabilitate prisoners perpetuates gang activity and the spread of white supremacist beliefs.

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The relationship between white supremacy and the U.S correctional facilities
In the U.S, there have been mass incarcerations which have led to the overcrowding of the
correctional facilities. This increase in mass incarceration has depleted the prison resources such
as the rooms and the people have to spend their times standing. The monetary resources have
become inadequate to provide for rehabilitation services, education and recreational activities for
keeping the prisoners involved and active. The people have been secluded and confined into
violent environments with nothing positive to do. The boring environment in the American prisons
have led to the development of these prison gangs. The prison gangs include Aryan Circle, Aryan
Brotherhood of Texas, and European Kindred. The prison gangs are fully organized and perform
their criminal activities both behind the prison bars and in the streets. They engage in murder, drug
trafficking and hate crimes. The inmates are recruited into the gangs due to the fear of the
dangerous prison environment. The prison gangs terrorize both the inmates and the local
communities. For example, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas was responsible for thirty-three
murders in the local community in Texas between 2000 to 2005 (Rastogi par.9). The prison gangs
stem from the existing religious sects in prisons such as the Christian Identity whose membership
is about 25,000-50000in America (Rastogi par.10). The white supremacist groups in the American
correctional facilities have great impacts on the inmates inside the prisons and after their release.
In prisons, the inmates are forced to join the prison gangs to seek protection from harassment by
other prison gangs. The members of a gang swear loyalty and allegiance to the group activities and
thus are likely to extend the group activities out of prison. The new inmates are expected to adopt
and subscribe to the activities of the prison’s gang failure to which they are exposed to violence,

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rape and extortion. It is hard for the Ex-prisoners to leave the group activities since they are already
addicted to crime and hatred. The ex-prisoners thus continue enhancing the group ideologies in
the communities. The isolated prison environment creates an ambience culture for radicalizing the
inmates. The U.S correctional facilities have isolated the prisoners from the community denying
them their social freedoms. The prison environment has contributed to the growth of prison gangs
which is becoming a dangerous problem in the U.S
Laura Sullivan, a NPRcorrespondent, in this interview with Michel Martin, points out that,
new inmates in the maximum prisons walk into violent environments. The prison gangs await
them and they require them to choose a group specifically for protection purposes. Groups such as
the Aryan Brotherhood demands that, the new inmates must kill or attempt to kill someone to be
enrolled into the groups. The only way to come out of the group is by dying which means that
attempts to leave the group attracts death (Npr.org, 2017).
White supremacy in the American correctional facilities is institutionalized through racism.
Jerry Metcalf, a prisoner, serving 60 years’ imprisonment at Thumb Correctional Facility, in his
contribution to the Marshal Project notes that, in the prison corridors, he is surrounded by racists
and everything in that prison is based on race. In the prison, whites and blacks use different barbers
and seat in separate sides on social halls in addition to using different shower rooms. He points out
that, on numerous occasions, he has heard the use of words such as the “honkey” and “nigger”
which are the words used by the white supremacists when referring to the nonwhites. According
to him, the whites are secluded from the minority inmate groups (Tatusian, par.15).
The white supremacist groups in the prison corridors discriminate against the nonwhite
inmates and the black staff. For example, the black inmates in the prison facilities in New York
are subjected to racial abuse and threats from the moment they step into the prison corridors. The

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nonwhites are punished severely by the prison guards for breaking minor rules like disobeying
orders. In the prisons, the white guards use the white supremacist ideologies to threaten the
nonwhite inmates. For example, Bruce Parker, a correctional facility officer in Houston’s county
jail threatened the black prisoners with violence citing his membership to the KKK gang, which is
a white supremacist group. The nonwhite inmates in the New York facilities are 65 percent likely
to receive a solitary confinement than the white inmates (Fall, par.22). In the correctional facilities,
the nonwhites are severely punished than the nonwhites. For example, the Latino and black
inmates in Virginia claims that they have been electrocuted, forced to lie in bed for many days and
even forced to lie on their excrement.
The white guards in the correctional facilities sometimes appear in the white supremacist
group attire such as the KKK gang attire. The guards have been accused of threating the nonwhite
prisoners, abusing them and even killing them. The black guards in the correctional facilities are
not spared either (Fall, par.17). For instance, in more than 13 states, the black guards have filed
suits alleging racist violence and harassment from their white colleagues. The white guards are
conspiring with the prison gangs to advance the white supremacist ideologies. The staff in the
correctional facility is also colluding with the criminal gangs in spreading and promoting white
supremacy ideologies. The white supremacist groups such as the Brotherhood targets their attacks
to the minority inmates and the “unwanted “staff in the correctional facility. In Florida estate, more
than 100 black guards have filed their law suits citing racial harassment. For example, Richard
Watkins, a black warden based in Texas says that, he has received four deaths two of which are
from the white staff. Another black warden, Orlando Edwards was fired for filing a racial
discrimination suit (Fall, par.14).

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The prison gangs have strict ideologies which the member must follow. The prison gang’s
ideologies are founded on white supremacy and centered on racism. The Aryan Brotherhood has
a constitution which the members follow. The nonwhites are viewed as non-equals to the whites.
The groups engage in criminal activities in prison and arrange for the same in the neighboring
communities. They engage in drug trafficking and gun trafficking. The conflict resolution method
amongst the gang members is fistfight which results into death. For example, Michael Hudson a
member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Mississippi, was killed by the group members for failing to
follow commands on debt settlement (Saul, par.9).
In the American Correctional facilities, the number of the incarcerated black people is
seven times that of the whites. Michelle Alexander says that, in America “the system of mass
incarceration works to trap African Americans in a virtual (and literal) cage,”. Due to racial
differences, the African American young men are more likely to harassed by the police and be put
in prison. The young blacks are put in the prisons which provide an invincible control, denied the
blacks their rights such voting and are legally discriminated while in the prisons. The number of
Muslims in the American correctional facilities is 60 percent 173,000 prisoners incarcerated in the
federal prisons and also the Muslim prisoners make up 18 percent of the state prisoners
incarcerated in the New York correctional facilities (Hamm, 20). The majority of the workers in
the correction facilities are the whites. This creates guard-inmate relationships which are based on
tensions. For example, in 1998, in the Bay State Prison, Washington DC, about half of the inmates
were blacks while out of 300 available staff, only a single digit number of employees were blacks.
The parole boards in the correctional facilities are also biased against the nonwhites. They
are more likely to pardon and release the white inmates than the blacks or Latinos serving the same
sentence. For example, the Parole Board released only 14 percent of the young black inmates and

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Latinos and 30 percent of the whites in 2006. The racial disparities are used in enhancing the black
supremacy in the correctional facilities (Simon, par. 4).
The prison gangs continue advancing the group ideologies into the American society. Cases
of violence have been reported in the American states which are associated with the white
supremacist gang groups. The prison gangs have links to the street gangs. These relationships
have been made possible by the inability of the prison staff to control the contrabands such as the
cellphones and drugs. The cellphones in the prison corridors make it possible for the prison gangs
to coordinate their activities with the street gangs, whose members are mostly the ex-prisoners.
For example, in California, more than 30,000 phones were confiscated from the prison cells in
2012 (Goldschein & Luke, par.2).
The prison environment does not provide an opportunity for rehabilitation due to the large
prisoner overcrowding. Most of the ex-prisoners end up committing crimes in the communities.
For example, 89 high-ranking members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, were recently jailed
for a total of 1,070 years for illegal firearm possession and drug trafficking (Slimak, par.11). The
89 members had been previously of other 736 crimes related to violence, burglary, child abuse,
murder and gun offenses. All these were members of the white supremacist groups. This indicates
that, the prisoners, once released from the prisons, continue with the group agendas and end up
returning back into the prisons. The prison gang’s supremacy ideologies have influenced so much
the American population. An FBI report indicates that, today, about 1.4 million U.S citizens
colored gang t-shirts (Goldschein & Luke, par.2). The prison gangs are committing 48 percent of
the crimes in the U.S and even sourcing dangerous weapons from the military. The 18th Street
Gang, a prison gang based at California, commits at least one crime in a day and is expanding its

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group activities in over 32 states across the country. In Los Angeles, the Florencia 13, a gang group
has turned the state into a dangerous zone (Goldschein & Luke, par.5).
The supremacist groups such as the KKK,Neo-Nazis and Aryan Brotherhood have formed
the "alt-right" movement to advance white supremacy. The movement attacked the white
nationalist on 12 august 2017 at Charlottesville who were protesting against the white supremacy
ideologists which had led to the destruction of the Gen Robert Lee statue, a pro-slavery
Confederacy fighter. After the Charlottesville attack, which was caused by the white supremacists,
president Donald Trump, in his CNN interview, condemned the violence terming it as a show of
hatred and bigotry which has been going on for quite a long time (Cillizza, par.4). However, I
totally disagree with the president’s views. In the video, it is only the supremacists who are
broadcasted screaming and causing violence which led to Ms. Heyer being run over by a car. The
“other side” were not seen fighting back the supremacist group. This shows that, the “other side”
do not believe on the supremacy system over race. The president is also known for his calls to
make “America Great” and his hard stand on immigrants who have occupied the American land
and jobs. He also has negative views about the Mexicans.
However, it is not true that the prisoners have been neglected and exposed into solitude.
The correctional facilities are also the best places to those who have committed crimes. By
committing crimes against the society, the individuals prove that they are unwanted in the society
and thus should be send to jail. The prisons are expected to rehabilitate such people and turn them
into useful members of the society.
The increasing number of the supremacist gangs in the U.S states call for an immediate
stop. The federal states, the central government and the correctional facilities should work together
in addressing the rising number of prison gangs both in prisons and in the streets. The mass

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incarceration has led to overcrowding in the prisons making it hard for the correctional facilities
to provide the necessary rehabilitation and education services. The overcrowding makes it hard for
the available prison staff to control the number of inmates. For example, the prison staff is unable
to control the infiltration of cellphones into the prison cells and drug trafficking. The lack of
resources to keep the prison engaged and busy causes unnecessary boredom leaving the prison
only to engage in dangerous criminal activities. There is need to finance the prisons to ensure the
inmates receive the necessary rehabilitation and educational services that will help them in
reforming their ways. The correctional facilities should be less crowded and should offer the
prisoners the time to engage in recreational activities to keep them busy. The prisoners are kept in
solitude environment away from the community for long time. In this state, the prisoners are more
disoriented from the community and thus view the society as an enemy. The rise of the white
supremacist groups calls for the president’s interference. The groups are becoming more dangerous
in each and are further polarizing the community. Police shootings and supremacy attacks such as
the Charlottesville attack have been reported. People have been killed by these supremacy gangs.
The president should come out and speak against the white supremacist groups. He should be in
the forefront of calling for peaceful existence among the people and directing harsh punishment to
those found enhancing the supremacy agenda. The gangs are now acquiring dangerous military
weapons, committing murder and drug trafficking. The violent supremacist actions in the
American streets will undermine the peaceful co-existence amongst the people. There is need to
create awareness amongst the prison staff about the dangers of protecting the prison gangs. Racial
institutionalization in the correctional facilities should be condemned and those guards founding
engaging in racial profiling counselled and action taken against them if need be. the country should
find the alternatives to the mass incarcerations such as educating people about the law.

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Work Cited
"How Powerful Are White Supremacist Prison Gangs?." NPR.Org, 2013,
https://www.npr.org/2013/04/08/176570800/how-powerful-are-white-supremacists-
prison-gangs.
Cillizza, Chris. “Donald Trump's Incredibly Unpresidential Statement on Charlottesville.” CNN,
Cable News Network, 13 Aug. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/trump-
charlottesville-statement/index.html.
Fall,."Allegations of Racist Guards Are Plaguing The Corrections Industry." Southern
Poverty Law Center, 2000, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-
report/2000/allegations-racist-guards-are-plaguing-corrections-industry.
Goldschein, Eric, and Luke McKenna. "13 American Gangs That Are Keeping The FBI Up At
Night." Business Insider, 2012, http://www.businessinsider.com/dangerous-american-
gangs-fbi-2011-11?IR=T/#the-18th-street-gang-is-considered-the-largest-street-gang-in-
california-1.
Hamm, Mark S. Terrorist Recruitment In American Correctional Institutions: An Exploratory
Study Of Nontraditional Faith Groups Final Report. 2007,
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/220957.pdf.
Rastogi, Nina. "Categorizing White Supremacists.." Slate Magazine, 2009,
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/05/the_six_flavors_of_
white_supremacy.html.
Saul, Josh. "BRUTAL MURDER BUSTS UP ARYAN BROTHERHOOD OF
MISSISSIPPI." Newsweek, 2016, http://www.newsweek.com/2016/07/01/aryan-
brotherhood-prison-gang-murder-skip-hudson-472868.html.
Slimak, Lisa. "In Largest Case Prosecuted In U.S. Focusing On White Supremacist Prison Gang
Members, Swift Justice Leads To Conviction Of 89 Members/Associates Of Aryan
Brotherhood Of Texas And Aryan Circle." Justice.Gov, 2017,
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/largest-case-prosecuted-us-focusing-white-
supremacist-prison-gang-members-swift-justice.
Tatusian, Alex. "“Prison Is A Real-Life Example Of The World White Supremacists Want”." The
Marshall Project, 2017, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/08/24/prison-is-a-real-
life-example-of-the-world-white-supremacists-want.