The staff members that are assigned incarcerated workers often appear to act as if the humanity of these workers begins and ends with their labor. Once, an educator I worked for entered a hallway full of residents and said, “My God, I just wish I could load you all up in a bus and take you to my house.” Everyone smiled, some cheered until she continued: “I need so much work done in my yard. Y’all could fix it right up.”

Having worked in social services, dehumanizing clients was not an uncommon practice. My former clients were not incarcerated but seniors in low income housing. The mentality was the same, like something had to be inherently wrong in a person to end up on the other side of the desk.

Thank you for sharing. After reading, I found a local group working on food justice and prison abolition.