Race and Class Confront Alex Murdaugh
Alex Murdaugh will confront race and class as never before, and for the rest of his life. Anti-White racism is a part of prison life, and racism guides most decisions behind bars. Alex Murdaugh is entering heightened danger not only for being privileged and White, but for being well educated; a formerly wealthy and upper middle class lawyer. Prisons in the United States are disproportionately filled with Black and Brown people and the underclass. The working poor who commit crime make up most of the jailhouse population. And there is profound resentment. Alex Murdaugh is the poster child for White establishment. He comes from a ''prominent'' South Carolina family. Right away he is labeled with the taint of slave ownership. He's going to have to hear the sound of Black rage for the rest of his life. Murdaugh will be forced to confront issues and attitudes best left in Hell. He is the personification of the system that put most of his fellow prisoners behind bars. The United States ignores there is a class structure. What guides prejudice is race, at least according to mass media. Only that's a fiction. In fact Alex Murdaugh will be entering a world of the very poor and uneducated. In his past life, as a lawyer, he was separated from criminals who were behind bars, or brought into a courtroom in chains, now he is living with them. He will hear the word ''nigger'' all day long. It's an ugly ignorant word, and constantly heard in prisons everywhere. The ''N'' word is used like a noun, verb, adjective and is shocking to hear. For any educated individual the language of prison life is punishment. Alex Murdaugh will be answering questions for the rest of his life. Why did you kill your wife and son? Questions asked by fellow criminals who demand answers. There will be no hiding for Alex Murdaugh. I recently served time with the New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernande In my prison, Souza-Baranowski, a maximum security facility the general population are content to laugh and play cards and scheme. Most prisoners are young Black and Hispanic gang members. The hand full of white inmates are hardcore criminals with years in the system. Poor White Trash. The prison population is changing. But, there are no Alex Murdaugh's. None that I've met. In Massachusetts's racism is firmly entrenched. White prisoner's are treated as others. Black and Brown prisoners really feel the White man is the devil. White exclusion from activities is common. White inmates don't have support groups as Black and Hispanic's have. Alex Murdaugh will come to learn there is an ugly double standard behind bars. Alex Murdaugh will feel the rage associated with a kind of payback for historical injustice. Every slight, every perceived grudge will be hurled at him. He represents the White establishment. He will pay or every kindness with cash. He may be forced to pay extortion to live in his cellblock. Violence and the threat of violence will greet him daily. He will see first hand our nation's prisons are a black world; a world of and for people of color and poor white trash who get trapped in them. While most prison population are segregated. White inmates share cells with whites, for example. Forced association demands interaction with others. But who will Alex Murdaugh associate with? He murdered his son. That's a terrible crime even for prisoners. This is the ugly hypocrisy of prison life. Criminals are prejudiced toward others based on their crimes. Child rapists are at the bottom of this hierarchy. It's A melancholy truth addressing race and class will be Alex Murdaugh's real punishment. He must now live with anger, rage and the kind of resentment building in this nation over years.