Therefore, _because_ we demand the dismantling of the prison system we _also_ demand that Zimmerman be brought to trial for murder.
The principle uniting the bundle is the structural racism at the core of u.s. politics and culture. We speak of Dukakis as a presidential candidate and Jackson as a black presidential candidate not because we are personally racist, though the phrase black presidential candidate is a racist phrase, but because the very dynamic of u.s. culture and politics forces the phrase on us. There is nothing special, in terms of American Myth, in a candidate being white: hence "white candidate" is redundant. But there is something that clashes with American Myth in a candidate being Black (and linked to Black activity), and therefore the phrase "Black candidate" is not redundant - the adjective adds information in the way "white" would not in the case of other candidates. I emphasize this because it is the clearest instance of how _structure_ enters into and informs personal behavior. Turning to the Martin case, the primary fact is that Trayvon was Black and his murderer a citizen - i.e., a white man. So what we focus on is the behavior of a crucial element in the police-courts-prison system in the u.s., a system which is pervasively and structurally racist. We demand its dissolution as part of our attack on structural racism, and for the same reason we demand the arrest of Zimmerman for murder and his trial for murder. Our opposition to the prison system is not only not in contradiction to our demand that Zimmerman be tried but the two are an identity. Both demands embody our central struggle against structural racism. That reduces all differences between the two to zero.
Charge Zimmerman with murder.
Demolish the Prison System
These demands are merely different expressions of the same meaning.
Incidentally, in view of DC's interesting post, I should emphasize that the _core_ objection to U.S. prisons is that they are torture -- and the objection holds equally for all categories of prisoners. The system as it stands cannot be made human; it has to begin over again from scratch. For the left (not in power) that means consistent opposition to its very existence. It corrupts the guard force; it corrupts thejuries & judges who send men and women to it. It corrupts the society that allows it. This remains true regardless of the character or crimes of the inmates. The parole/probation system is equally corrupt, as is the practice of keeping non-dangerous prisoners in local jails pending trial.
Leftists have no choice but simply to say No to this horror.
That some proportion of its victims are not dangerous to others adds to the core objection but does not constitute it.
Carrol