I stated in my earlier blogs about the error of my younger days, and how I spent time in the county jail. During that time, I gained a good deal of insight as to how stereotypes are built up.
I have found that ex inmates almost always have some level of prejudice. During my time in the Pierce County Correctional Center in late 1988-early 1989, I found out a good deal why.
Inside many of the cell blocks, the blacks tend to mingle with the blacks, the hispanics with the hispanics, and so on. There is a heirarchy there that must be respected; if it is not, you have a very good chance of being hurt or killed for standing up to it. In a large city lockup such as Tacoma, there are a good deal of inmates there that are going down for a life sentence and know it; to them, one more murder just adds to their status once they reach prison.
The TV in many of these cellblocks is run by the blacks. You do not question this, you just listen to the endless drone of loud rap videos in the cellblock and do the best you can. You also watch out your cell door as the trustees, usually part of the "gang" that tends to run the cellblock, take the best portions of food off of each tray before the cells are unlocked and you are allowed to eat. This is not universal, mind you, but one of the consequences of blacks being the majority of those incarcerated is that other races find themselves subservient to them.
In my situation, I found both good and bad among the other inmates; it is the bad that stands out more. I can look at the man that stood up behind me when I confronted one of the guys in the cellblock who had looted my cell while I was out with my attorney as an example of the good. Or I can look at the animal who tried to kill me because I wouldn't surrender my food to him and caused me to determine I'd rather spend the remainder of my time in solitary than with these monsters as an example of the bad. It's a choice we all make.
Frankly, what I gained most out of that experience is a general distrust of anyone until they have proven themselves to me. It's not a race thing, as I apply it to almost everyone, but it's far more prudent to be cautious and alive than overly trusting and dead.
I could blog on this subject longer, but I'll save further responses for the response section of the article.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish