Rolanda
has been visiting her husband Hershel for over sixteen years. Rolanda says she will not give up or walk out
on her husband because he is a good man and he is innocent of the crime he is
doing time for. Hershel and Rolanda have
two children both conceived during his incarceration. Hershel will be paroled in the year 2004 if
he remains a model prisoner.
Most of my family has
spent some time in a jail or prison at one time or another. Unfortunately, it has become a part of the
black culture in this country. One out
of every four black families in America has someone in prison or on parole or
has at least been through the system. I
don't feel this is accidental. The judicial
system in America is not just. It’s like
the old Redd Foxx joke: A black man goes in to court seeking justice and
that’s just what the white judge sees,
just us. The amount of
justice a black man receives in America has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. It’s more about how much money he has. If he’s rich, he gets whatever charity the
judge is giving away that day. OJ
Simpson's freedom cost him over six million dollars.
My husband Hershel has been locked down since 1984 for murder and robbery. A crime they have never proven he did nor do they have evidence to back up their story. Hershel was just standing in the right driveway at the perfect time for a police to see him. I repeat, the real reason he’s in jail is the color of his skin, point blank. I'm very familiar with the justice system. It’s corrupt and feeds on cash and under the table deals between attorneys and judges. If you’re poor, you’re lucky to get a plea agreement. That’s where the attorneys tell you to plead guilty to one charge and they will be nice enough to only lock you up for seven years instead of thirty but if you plead not guilty and you are found guilty (and of course you will be) the court gives you the thirty. Only a person unfamiliar with the system will fight a case in court, and unless they have money they will lose every time. Attorneys are very crooked. They take the money and run.
I think the way to keep other young men out of trouble is to listen to them. That is the problem Hershel had growing up. No one would listen to him so he did what he needed to do to get attention. If you think nobody cares what you do you'll do anything and everything for attention, and that’s just what he did. By standing by my husband and being here for him and involving him in the raising of our children, I feel I can help my son to not make the same mistake his father made. My concern is more with my son than my daughter because it’s a known fact that a young black male can get in trouble just for DWB (Driving While Black). If my son doesn’t feel acceptance from his father and I, then he may seek the acceptance from gangbangers, thiefs, murderers and all of the other guys my husband sought out. Hershel tells me he truly believes that the key to our son’s success in America is for him to know that we care about him and his happiness and that he is the most important thing in the world to us. It’s not where we live or the car we drive, it’s feeling loved. Hershel never felt loved by his mother so in turn he grew up hating everything and everybody, especially authority figures.
Today,
I do all I can for my husband as well as my son. I watch who I bring around my son as role
models. My husband’s mother had
boyfriends who were drug dealers, players, and pimps. I have gotten my son a mentor who is a
successful man. I don't mean monetary
success, I mean successful in life, education, career, and family.
His mentor is white However, I believe a mentor is like a book; the
color of the cover has no relation to the content inside. A black car does not drive any better than a
white car. A dollar from a white man
spends no different than a dollar from a black man. I am trying to educate my son on life, and
the race of the educator has nothing to do with it. I am not concerned with the race of his
teacher only this person’s competency.
In prison a person is emotionally abandoned. The greatest strength Hershel can get from
his family is our letters and our visits.
The judge locked up Hershel , but my children and I are inmates
too. Our prison is between our ears, in
our minds. Everything has been taken
away from us, our income, our comfort, and our home. The only thing we have left is our
family. Our letters, our visits cheers
him up, and gives him hope for a better life on the other side of those
walls. It’s so easy to become
institutionalized. Prison can make you
an animal. Most people hate to even
consider the fact that they too could someday be locked up; it only takes one
mistake. It is when the ever so perfect
person becomes incarcerated that other people come to the realization that a
person behind bars is just that… a person.
