School desegregation is associated with higher graduation rates, greater employability, higher earnings, and decreased rates of incarceration. Clint Smith Read Quote
The social science on the impact of desegregation is clear. Researchers have consistently found that students in integrated schools – irrespective of ethnicity, race, or social class – are more likely to make academic gains in mathematics, reading, and often science than they are in segregated ones. Clint Smith Read Quote
The U.S. prison system, over all, disproportionately affects black and brown people, but people of color are overrepresented to a greater degree in private prisons. Clint Smith Read Quote
When the power of private prisons is diminished, so, too, is their ability to engage in back-door political lobbying that has an impact on public and private prisons alike. Clint Smith Read Quote
The moral abhorrence of private prisons has been brought to our attention by courageous acts of investigative journalism, illuminating scholarship, and the work of activists who have decried the social stratification brought about by our prison systems. Clint Smith Read Quote
Living under the perpetual and pervasive threat of racism seems, for black men and black women, to quite literally reduce lifespans. Clint Smith Read Quote
When the residue of oppression and fear are compounded over time, when the historical precedents of policing and discrimination manifest themselves over and over again, the very act of waking up to a world complicit in your distress can feel like a herculean task. But black people are human beings, just like everyone else. Clint Smith Read Quote
Being incarcerated does not mean being devoid of the capacity to learn, grow, and think, and it’s critical that prisons provide spaces where learning can be both cultivated and encouraged. Clint Smith Read Quote
The benefits of prison education go beyond lowering recidivism rates and increasing post-release employment. It can also rekindle a sense of purpose and confidence. Clint Smith Read Quote
It is easy not to support the death penalty when there is doubt about the culpability of the person sitting in the chair; it is harder to sustain such principles when the crime of the accused is morally indefensible. Clint Smith Read Quote
