Racial & Gendered Experiences in the Prison System
Would the Cyntoia Brown case have had a different outcome if she were a white woman or a black man?
On the night of August 6th, 2004 Cyntoia Brown arrived at a Sonic gas station in East Nashville when Johnny Allen approached her in a white van and asked if she needed a ride. Brown accepted his offer and Allen then asked if she was up for any (sexual) action. She agreed and they decided on a price of $150. When she got into the van, Brown suggested going to a hotel, but he insisted on going to his house because there would be no one there. When they arrived at his house she saw two shotguns and a chrome gun. She started to feel nervous, so she asked if they could go downstairs and watch tv because she was tired and wanted to get some sleep. She wanted to be near the door and was hoping that they would both fall asleep so that she could sneak out the house. They then went upstairs and while they were laying down together, he grabbed in between her legs. When Brown pushed him away, he reacted very aggressively and then rolled over. To Brown it appeared as though he was going to reach for the gun under his bed. In self defense, Brown reached for the gun in her purse and proceeded to shoot him. Brown fled the scene in Allen’s truck.
Cyntoia Brown was arrested and tried as an adult. On August 25th, 2006 Brown was found guilty and convicted of first degree murder, felony murder, aggravated robbery and was sentenced to life in prison. While incarcerated, Brown earned her GED, an associates degree in Liber Arts with a 4.0 GPA, and a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership with a 4.0 GPA as well. In 2018, Brown appealed for clemency. They commuted Brown’s sentence of life in prison to 15 years plus 10 years of supervised parole. Finally, in 2019, Brown was released from prison.
When looking at Cynotia Brown’s case it is shocking to see how the court dismissed key factors in Brown’s case. For example, evidence showed that Brown had a mental disorder due to exposure to alcohol when she was only a fetus. This evidence alone should have helped Brown’s case, but the court seemed to have dismissed it. Many critics say that if Brown had been a white woman and if Allen had been a black man, the outcome would have been completely different. According to Angela Davis’ “How Gender Constructs the Prison System”:
“When we consider the impact of class and race here, we can say that for white and affluent women, this equalization tends to serve as evidence for emotional and mental disorders, but for black and poor women, it has pointed to criminality.”
Here, Davis makes an important point when considering the impact of class and race. Despite the evidence showing that Brown had a mental disorder, Brown was labelled a criminal, was tried as an adult, and sentenced to life in prison. Had Brown been a white woman, she would most likely only be labeled as mentally ill. As a black woman facing life in prison, the court viewed Brown as a threat to society and it wasn’t until Brown began to pursue a higher education in prison that many started to change their views on her. The link between education and a higher class steered Brown away from being viewed as a criminal and more towards being viewed as a black influential woman in society.
Others also say that the outcome would have been different if the crime were committed by a black man. As stated by Davis, “masculine criminality has always been deemed more”normal” than feminine criminality” (Davis 27).
Even though men and women can commit the same crime, it is deemed as more devious when a woman commits the crime because it does not fit society’s expectations of how a woman is supposed to behave. Women are expected to be obedient and submissive members of patriarchal society, so when committing the same crime as a man, it is seen as a greater threat because it challenges notions of womanhood and femininity. On the other hand, men are supposed to be masculine and aggressive, so when they commit these crimes they are not viewed as such a threat because it is more “in their nature” to behave this way.
Davis also states that:
“Studies indicating that women have been even more likely to end up in mental facilities than men suggest that while jails and prisons have been dominant institutions for the control of men, mental institutions have served a similar purpose for women” (Davis 28).
Despite committing the same exact crime, men are labeled as criminals, while women are labeled as psychologically insane. Because of this, men were doing less time than women due to the belief that behavioral changes take less time to achieve than mental rehabilitation. This further proves the argument that society’s perception of how men and women are supposed to behave in society shapes our views on the severity of the crimes which further shapes incarceration policies within prison systems.
This can be linked to the Brown case. One can say that because Cynotia Brown was seen as psychologically insane she had to do more time in prison because it takes more time to “fix” someone who is psychologically insane before they enter the real world.
Despite being “survived and punished” it is quite admirable that Brown was able to turn such a hostile environment to one in which she developed and flourished. Brown serves as an example to many of the black women who have undergone similar experiences and she continues to empower through her involvement in the world today.
