#268 Mines- Susan Straight
Clarette works at the juvenile prison. She sees her
community locked up in there, she sees her family locked up in there. But she
works there anyway, because somebody has to and she needs a job. She needs a
job so she can keep her own son out of prison. She’s there so he won't be.
She resents the people outside with opinions about here
working there. She resents her family telling her to look out for her nephew
who’s inside. They had 17 years to look out for him, and now it’s her
responsibility?
For some, the issue of prisons and the racial realities of
the prison system is an abstract talking point, for some it’s more personal,
and Clarette doesn’t care about the concepts, she cares about keeping her son
safe. She does what she has to. As her nephew points out, “I’ve got to get
mines.”
Notable Passage: “The old days, the men go off to the army.
Hard time, let me tell you. They go off to die, or they come back. But if they
die, we get some money from the army. If they come back, they get a job on the
base. Now them little boys, they go off to the prison just like the army. Like
they have to. To be a man. They go off to die, or to come back. But they aint
got nothing. Nothing either way.”
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