Not for Human consumption!
This blog post is going to be a little different. However, I want my post to be informative and educational on different levels. I am writing this one to shine some light on how inmates are viewed within our judicial systems. In the past I was no stranger to being incarcerated. There are many areas I feel are dehumanizing to individuals but one that I have to speak on.
I will not mention an institution in particular here, but is definitely in Ohio. You see many atrocities while be locked away from the world. I understand it is a punishment for our crimes, but is there a limit? Are we not sent there to be rehabilitated, not dehumanized. The one that still bothers me is working in the kitchen and being fed food that states, “ Not for human consumption but for inmates and animals”. When I seen this I was instantly infuriated because that was pretty much saying we were not humans, it was saying we were no more than mere animals. In my opinion they looked at us that way, being caged as such. This is not just in correctional center in Ohio, but all over the United States.
Many people have at some point lost their way. Some people are sent to these correctional centers for their crimes against society, others and many times themselves. They are taken from family, friends, the outside world. A lot are sent away for substance abuse. Now take the substance abuse for example. Individuals started using substances because of experiences and trauma related to the past, or childhood. Now these substance abusers have their freedom taken, and in some cases hit rock bottom in their life. How is not recognizing them as humans helping rehabilitate these individuals?
I really think that we need some reforms in the correctional system today if we ever want to bring about change in our societies today. Judicial systems need to address the issues and sources of the individual’s behavior, not turn them into the animals they are being portrayed to be.
Besides my own personal experience, I included a link for other alleged sources of this treatment. The article from the link is from 2019, but from an inside source from 2023 this is still the case in several facilities in Ohio.
Former Inmates Say They Were Fed Meat Labelled 'Not Fit For Human Consumption' (newsweek.com)
