Fair Game

...Fair Game BY WALTER GOODMAN The Attica Syndrome THE ONGOING DEBATE about the events at the Attica Correctional Facility has taken the shape of one of those peculiar television encounters in which a pair of bizarre characters —say, Martha Mitchell and LeRoi Jones—are brought together to discuss Justice in America The real subjects of such a show-biz confrontation, of course, are the protagonists, they blossom in the lights and feed happily on each other's droppings Madame Mitchell can see in Jones the end product of the Warren Court's years of mollycoddling the unworthy, and Jones can see in Madame Mitchell racist America raised to eminence Both can count on retiring from the fray with a glow of satisfaction, and network executives can hail their latest achievement in bringing divergent views to the American people Such is the way large issues tend to reach the public, in print as well as on screen For most matters of consequence require an injection of pizazz to tempt the millions who prefer a wrestling match to a conversation, and cannot always tell one from the other Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we shall tear at the subject of Race Relations In this corner, the Blonde Brute In that corner, Mt Black Bruiser Come out clawing, guys So it is with Attica The guards, along with their many kin and friends in the vicinity, know that the prisoners have been sent to the Correctional Facility to pay for their outbursts of innate viciousness and perversity of character, a conviction that is reinforced by the comcidence that the inmates aie mostly black and the citizens of Attica mostly white (As a general rule it is easier to be compassionate toward convicts if one doesn't have to live among them The rule also applies to guards ) The prisoners are a constant trial and threat to those entrusted with their care and an irritation to the townsfolk, who may grudgingly recognize that without the inmates, there might be no reason for their town's existence The men in the cells need to be reminded by an occasional prod of club or fist who is in charge—and only by prodding are some guards able to reassuie themselves on this point The profession of prison guard offers untalented young fellows a lifetime of security, with few opportunities for advancement but many foi venting their frustrations Their sense of self-esteem depends on their superiority to their charges, and that superiority can be most directly demonstrated by physical means The mating of power and fear does not breed sympathy Guards are likely to see efforts to ameliorate the prisoners' condition as a trespass by the soft-headed onto their domain and a threat to society at large, as represented by themselves On the other hand, the removal of a random prisoner, particularly through violence, seems merely a natural end to an antisocial life So long, number 8635, you got what you'd been asking for Now, certain critics of our penal system—which is finding very few defenders—are delighted to agree that prison guards do indeed stand perfectly for the larger society—a repressive, racist, violence-prone society that uses guns and clubs to keep down the disadvantaged In this view, our criminals, whose proximity the critics take care to shun after dark, become the heroes of the occasion Have they not proved by their resistance to authority, in their hvely fashions, that they embody the revolutionary impulse'' They are the vanguard In prison every death, except of pigs or inmates done in by other inmates, is martyrdom (Courtesy as well as public relations requires that everybody make an early declaration that his heart goes out to all the bereaved on both sides Alas, one can't help but notice that while all deaths may be equal, in the scales of both the revolutionists and the forces of law and order, some are much more equal than others ) Coming Together THE VIEWS of guards and critics of the system thus diverge, yet on some points they achieve a fine accord Neither group, for example, can rouse enthusiasm for prison reform Revolutionists see it as another instance of liberal hypocrisy—decorating the cells of citizens who have been unjustly deprived of their freedom in the first place Free Jack the Ripper' The guards take suggestions for reform as a personal insult Similarly, talk of convict rehabilitation offends both sides The guards, invulnerable to the delusions of enlightened persons, know that rehabilitation is a lost cause, one might as well try to rehabilitate a rabid hound Efforts in that direction can only raise inmates' aspirations to unrealistic levels, perhaps even to a status in life above that of a prison guard More to the point, classes and workshops and whatnot permit inmates greater mobility, and mcreased opportunity to devise weapons and concoct plots Control becomes more difficult—and control of the bastards is, after all, the main thing From a guard's perspective the perfect correctional facility is one where the cell doors are never unlocked For revolutionists, the notion of rehabilitation is a sour joke Physical education is okay because it builds muscles, but to instruct these fine men in the rudiments of plumbing is merely to open them to corruption by The System A nine-to-five job in the capitalist employ...

...It is the society that needs to be rehabilitated, which is to say bombed It is the lesser men outside the walls who should be trained to measure up to their courageous brothers within Well, how are the two camps to be reconcile...

...Assuming they can get union cards ) Demoralizing...

...The answer, serious observers are beginning to understand, can be found m their mutual recognition that in the present stage of penology, prisoners and guards are not ready to coexist happily m close quarters They don't like each other Therefore, the first step in any accommodation must be to remove all guards from prison premises—much as we are removing our troops from Vietnam, turning the keys over to the indigenous Thieu, but keeping in touch via our bombers Nonpeaceful noncoexistence An alternative to the removal of the guards, of course, is the removal of the prisoners—and it has been reported by completely unreliable sources that the governments of North Vietnam, North Korea, Algeria, and Congo Brazzaville are ready to welcome to their prisons anybody who is dissatisfied in ours Foi the moment, however, State Department protocol is holding up the transfei Perhaps, as relations with China improve, a deal can be worked out whereby we get their decadents and they get our sociopaths—even trade, no surcharge The Greening of Attica BY THE NEW arrangement—bound to be known as Atticazation—every correctional facility will be divided into a series of neighborhoods, each with a prevailing community of interest Has not sister philosopher Angela Davis, master of Marcusan thought and style, written of the "conscious thrust among many prison populations toward new and arduously wrought collective life organically bound up with the dynamics of the liberation struggle m America and across the globe'"' There will be a murderers' neighborhood, a muggers' neighborhood a child molesters' neighborhood, a lapists' neighborhood, a drug pushers' neighborhood (Tax evaders and former New Jersey officials will be settled on the Upper East Side, along with conscientious objectors There will be facilities in the vicinity for picketing and for rallies of protest ) Power will adhere to those who have proved their proficiency to their peers Dissidents and misfits willl be dealt with according to the usages of the community The problem of keeping mayhem between neighborhoods withm tolerable limits is still up in the air, but William Kunstler has pledged to bring his soothing presence to bear on any misunderstandings With an eye to the prisoners' eventual release and reentry into the revolutionary cadre, an extensive training program will be offered Inmates will be encouraged to share know-how in the finer points of their several crafts The Commissioner of Correction is expected to supply lethal weapons for this purpose There will also be an apprenticeship in how to make one's way in the poverty program, led by paraprofes-sionals paid at the going wage The formation of a United Prisoners Union—Power to the Convicted Class1—will be a first step toward industry-wide bargaining Apart from vocational training, Negro prisoners will be encouraged to attend evening talks on the life of the mind by Black Panther officials Here they will learn that the offenses for which they were put away were in effect protests against indignities perpetrated upon the American Indian The lecture schedule for white prisoners will be handled by the Cosa Nostra Ringing this self-governing institution—it may or may not be granted statehood—will be a detachment of troopers on rest-and-recreation assignment from patrolling the Thomas E Dewey Thruway Sturdy fellows who don't often get a chance to shoot at anybody, they will have at their disposal rocket launchers, artillery pieces and tactical nuclear weapons which, when morale demands, they will lob over the prison walls (No less than two minutes warning must be given the inmates ) The troopers will be entitled to one visit from Spiro Agnew foi eveiy visit to the prisoners bv Bobby Seale, and Governor Rockefeller will grant amnesty to everybody...