I Was a CIA Whistleblower. Now I'm a Black Inmate. Here’'s How I See American Racism.

Sterling, Jeffrey
http://theintercept.com/2016/09/13/i-was-a-cia-whistleblower-now-im-a-black-inmate-heres-how-i-see-american-racism/
Date Written:  2016-09-13
Publisher:  The Intercept
Year Published:  2016
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX19990

From the moment I crossed the threshold from freedom to incarceration because I was charged with, and a jury convicted me of, leaking classified information to a New York Times reporter, I needed no reminder that I was no longer an individual. Prison, with its "one size fits all" structure, is not set up to recognize a person's worth; the emphasis is removal and categorization. Inmates are not people; we are our offenses. In this particular prison where I live, there are S-Os (sex offenders), Cho-Mos (child molesters), and gun and drug offenders, among others. Considering the charges and conviction that brought me here, I'm not exactly sure to which category I belong. No matter. There is an overriding category to which I do belong, and it is this prison reality that I sadly "compare unto the world": I'm not just an inmate, I'm a black inmate.

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