Summary Of Are Prisons Obsolete By Angela Davis

Angela Davis, in her researched book, Are Prisons Obsolete? , analyzes the perception of our American prison systems. Davis’ purpose is to inform the reader about the American prison system and how it effects African- Americans and those of any other race, though blacks are the highest ranking number in the prison systems. She creates a blunt tone in order to easily convey her message without bias. Davis opens her researched book by addressing the idea of how abolishing the death sentence and the prison system itself, by claiming that even advocates for the death penalty find that they face challenges dealing with this issues also. She appeals to the audience who are more familiar with the death penalty and its activists and those who are opposed; She explains it well enough for those who are ignorant on the subject. Davis explains that it is her hope that her book would help with any assumptions made by themselves or formulated by another on the topic of the American prison system, would be rethought. Her blunt tone guides the reader to only read facts without bias to reassure them that their beliefs are solely factual.

Davis also raises the question of whether we feel it is humane to allow people to be subjected to violence and be subdue to mental illnesses that were not previously not there. She states a recent study has found that there may be twice as many people suffering from a mental illness who are in jail or in prisons, rather than psychiatric hospitals. She begins to answer the by stating the statistics of those with mental illnesses in order to justify her answer. She exhibits a steady set of emotion to which serves the reader an unbiased