Chain Gangs

WHEREAS, no other race of people has entered this country in bondage and suffered the public humiliation of chains (shackles); and

WHEREAS, nationally, prisons are disproportionately filled with Black and Latino men and women, based in part on the disparities in sentencing, and the prevailing police practice of focusing on men of color; and

WHEREAS, the state of Massachusetts, city of New Bedford, and recently approximately nine additional states in the country have prisons that utilizes "Chain Gang" work forces; and

WHEREAS, there is no evidence that "Chain Gangs" deter crime or aid in the rehabilitation of inmates, and

WHEREAS, the iniquities that still exists in our Judicial System and a disproportionate number of African-Americans are in the jails and on "Chain Gangs". To humiliate publicly humiliate inmates as a practice is only a continued insult to our people and our country.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP stands opposed to the practice and continuance of "Chain Gang" workforces in the United States and will work through the legislative process to make sure that such processes will be abolished forever; and

THEREFORE, BE IT ALSO FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP will urge all of its Units to work within its states to prohibit actively the use of "Chain Gang" workforces and support any and all legislation authored to abolish such practices in our penal institutions.