So today, 2/10, the class piled into 3 cars and made the hour trek south to Jackson, Georgia. For about an hour, Ross, MK, Becky, and myself talked about parts of the assigned readings we liked, and more about the looming day when we all have to start looking for calls in a church market that doesn't have much for us. At the time, I thought that would be the most depressing part of my day...
We get off the interstate, Exit 201, to normal sights, truck stops and Wendy's. We take an immediate turn through a pair of nonchalant brick placements and we are now on Georgia Department of Corrections property. We see a beautiful lake, lots of wooded land, and fields for picnics and recreation. A few red brick, two story houses begin to spring up here and there, homes for wardens and chief guards as best I can figure. We take a few turns around some road construction, and there it is.
This penitentiary is not Alcatraz or Sing Sing, it looks almost like a high school surrounded by a double layer of chain link fencing. These fences, 20+ feet high, are absolutely covered with more razor wire than I have ever seen, hundreds of miles of it, glinting in the afternoon sun.
We get through security and make our way down a long, underground corridor. On the walls are those motivational posters, the same ones used at local elementary schools says our professor. The posters speak of focus, pride, teamwork and the like. Georgia's way of boosting the guards moral as they enter a hostile environment I suppose.
At the end of the corridor and up a flight of stairs we meet Rev. Stanley Harrell, the chaplain for the prison and our guide for the day. We also meet, more like come in contact with cause they didn't talk to us much, a group of highly trained guards of the CERT force. I can't remember what CERT stood for, but Vojta, a foreign exchange student from Czech Republic, said in Czech it read "devil". Ha!
We toured almost the entire prison over the course of 3 hours. We couldn't talk to many people because the guards presence was a constant. There are 2 things that I am stuck thinking about:
1. Guards force the inmates to turn and face the wall whenever we would pass by. There was no eye-contact, no humanity.
2. The Georgia execution chamber is a place that I struggle to find words to describe. Our hearts sunk as we entered and saw the gurney behind the glass. Dazzling white sheets, half a dozen straps from top to bottom, an extended bar for the right arm of the condemned. Tears were fought back or allowed to flow. We all left in solemn silence...
This has just been a summary of the tour. More reflection to come later.
"We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel."
-A Brief Statement of Faith. PC(USA)
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I know that was an incredibly tough experience. Do you, or the group in general, think that subsequent visits will be less traumatic? I hope that this experience will be a blessing for you.
ReplyDeleteI love the way our minds seemed to be in-sync yesterday during our time in Jackson. Your description of the execution chamber is haunting...I can still picture it very clearly in my mind. I also agree that the prison reminded me of a high school (Tommy also echoed this thought as we were walking down the long hallways).
ReplyDeleteI keep wondering: what message is portrayed by the many images of eagles throughout the prison? American power/pride? Ideals of democracy/capitalism? Fierceness? Freedom? Order? Morality?
Thanks for your thoughts, Will.
-MKD
When I was talking to Stan, I asked him what he makes of all the "motivational" posters that line the visitor hallway. He said prisons are like schools in a lot of ways, ways that society structures our lives and socializes us. Prison is the same kind of socialization, just brutalized exponentially.
ReplyDeleteAs I read the accounts, I presume this is a maximum security prison, and I wonder if there is a mechanism for an inmate to be released. Is there an educational system by which an inmate may earn a GED, further education, etc. Is there an active prison ministry? Through these two avenues some inmates have been rehabilitated.
ReplyDeletehowever, education is not necessarily rehabilitation. the most terrible deeds of humanity have been committed by those of considerably higher mental faculties than most.
ReplyDeleteHaving a highter mental faculty does not necessarily equate to possession of an education. Grandaddy (Ken) is correct -- statistically, inmates who receive educational or vocational training in prison have a reduced rate of recidivism (most likely because they are better equipped for employment upon release).
ReplyDeleteBilliam is also correct, however those individuals with higher mental faculties tend to be affected by severe anti-social personality disorders, but account for a small percentage of the prison population. Rehabilitation is not an option for this group, as it has proved completely ineffective.