This is something I never really understood. Why is it so universal that inside of prisons races are so strictly segregated like this? Is it because of the gangs that stick to their race getting thrown in the most, then the rest of people just conform to this since they are the most powerful groups?Prison society is usually strictly segregated, so it was no small thing when Carlos, a Mexican, and Roby, an Asian guy, struck up a friendship.
People's crimes are often based in life experiences that are very race-specific, and involve group identities that are ethnically delineated. Chinese gangs are distinct groups from black gangs are distinct from Hispanic gangs. In prison, often your only immediate "in" with a social circle is based on some group affiliation like this, and the rest of the prison probably falls into segregated circles once those boundaries are clearly formed. A more depressing interpretation, however, is that this is just how most people are in American society. If you look at a cafeteria in a diverse high school, most tables are a single ethnicity. People just segregate like this.
Something I've never really considered is what I would have to do if I somehow lost all forms of identification. Anyone familiar with the process of gaining new documents when you currently have none? Presumably if you've been in prison for years, the state knows that it's you.He’d gotten stalled for months, trying to track down a copy of his birth certificate, without which he couldn’t get other forms of ID, access to government aid or his learner’s permit.
I ran away from home a lot and at some point lost my documents. They just had me answer what seemed like basic questions: what's your mom's maiden name? Is your father listed on your birth certificate? Where were you born? I answered and they gave me a copy. This was in Alabama.