by: Rick Jackson

Delaware State University hosted a two-part series presentation on mass incarceration consisting of a documentary film showing, “Slavery by Another Name” on Wednesday October 28th, followed by a panel discussion on October 29th.

The documentary narrated the events of post-1865, the abolishment of slavery. The film informed students of how prison is a close relative to slavery. Thousands of black men and women were locked away for long periods of time with unfair trials and for petty non-violent crimes.

Prison is a business. The Hornet asked one of the panelists, law enforcement official Perry Philips about the ways the prison system is seen as a business today. Philips says, “When talking about the prison industrial complex there is a lot of profit to be made from the incarceration of people. Most of that profit has to do with private ran companies.”

There was a lot to be learned from the presentations. Sophomore psychology major, Syda Isaacs told The Hornet that she was in shock to hear that 80% of black male high school students in certain areas of Wilmington, Delaware drop out every year.

The overall intent of the panelist discussion was to motivate the DSU students to be the upcoming generation that rights these wrongs that we see in our society.