When former judge Lance Mason was arrested last year and charged with the brutal murder of his beautiful ex-wife Aisha Fraser those of us in the reentry community braced ourselves for what was sure to come: Sensationalized stories in the media of formerly incarcerated individuals working for the City of Cleveland. We knew this shit-show was coming because Mason had been hired in 2017 as the city’s Minority Business Development Administrator after he exited prison for attacking Fraser back in 2014.
Hindsight being 20/20, I think the cause of reentry would have been better served if the politicians who supported Mason upon his release from prison had used their clout to secure a job for him with some contractor or developer — somewhere less conspicuous — instead of one where he was supervising women who might have been uncomfortable around him. Even better hindsight would suggest that he should not have been released from prison after only nine months in the first place, since incarcerated men can’t kill their ex-spouses.
So yet another media outlet is now questioning the city policy (which has the blessing and support of Mayor Frank Jackson) that allows felons to have second chances by employing them in various jobs. As a journalist, an advocate for former felons, and a formerly incarcerated individual (I was a career counterfeiter of credit cards who chose another path in life over 25 years ago), this is smack-dab in my wheelhouse.
It was President George W. Bush that signed the Second Chance Act of 2007, saying at the time, “I’m about to sign a piece of legislation that will help give prisoners across America a second chance for a better life. The country was built on the belief that each human being has limitless potential and worth. Everybody matters. We believe that even those who have struggled with a dark past can find brighter days ahead. One way we act on that belief is by helping former prisoners who’ve paid for their crimes — we help them build new lives as productive members of our society.”
What part of this don’t the media understand? Would the editors and reporters who engage in these unfair portrayals prefer that people exiting prison have no hope of a better tomorrow and therefore engage in violence simply to feed and shelter themselves? And what if you’re a victim of such violence? Do you partially blame the media for causing you to be a victim? You should.
The city has an obligation to hire the formerly incarcerated simply because other employers won’t — unless you happen to be white. Yes, race plays a huge part in all of this as I will explain.
Believe it or not, there still are more whites exiting prison each year than blacks. So why is reentry thought of primarily as a black problem? That’s because whites don’t struggle near as hard to gain employment after incarceration, and I have proof of that fact.
My wife and I manage a vineyard and winery that employs former felons. It’s temporary, part-time, transitional employment, something to inspire hope and help them to start getting on their feet as soon as they come home. However, although we serve clients of all races, we never have a white client that stays with us over a week. Why? A family member, a church member, a friend, or a friend of a friend always — and I do mean always — steps up and gives them a job. The social safety net catches them and helps to make them whole again. This is simply not the case with most blacks coming out of prison.
Mayor Jackson knows this fact as well as I do and believes that the City of Cleveland has to take up the slack so that everyone gets an opportunity to turn their lives around. What could be wrong with that? Do the math: how many of the hundreds of employees with felonies employed by the city commit additional crimes? Less than one-tenth of one percent, and by my estimation, I’d say that’s an excellent batting average.
In this case, the media is doing something other than providing useful information; it’s picking the rotten low-hanging fruit of sensationalism, but by doing so harms — rather than helps — society. We shouldn’t shoot all dogs because one or two have fleas.
From CoolCleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.