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These kinds of arrangements are not imposed by the jail or prison authority but adopted
and maintained by the inmates themselves. George, a 51-year-old White, explains:
To eliminate disputes or conflicts it’s kind of understood that certain peo-
ple sit in certain areas and certain TVs, depending on which side they’re
on, or tune to certain programs; and it’s usually the groups, those majori-
ties…decide on programs.
This segregationist approach is welcomed by most inmates. Roland, a 25-year-old His-
panic, looks at it this way:
You can see like a segregation between the Hispanics and the Black; and
that’s mostly done not because of racial stuff like that, it’s mostly be-
cause…to everybody else it will be better that way; it causes less tension
that way and, you know, people can better get along that way; there’s two
TVs, and the majority of Hispanics sit on this side and Blacks on this side;
it’s not always the same, but like certain…like Blacks they like to watch
certain shows that come on TV; and the Hispanics don’t really like to
watch those shows, they like to watch other shows, so instead of being
there arguing, the majority win what we’re gonna watch, you know, they
let them watch what they wanna watch.
In identifying the reasons for racial segregation regarding the use of television, many in-
mates were careful not to label them as such, as the above comment (“not because of ra-
cial stuff”) illustrates. Interestingly, many White and Hispanic inmates at some point in
their discussion said something like, “I’m not racial,” or “it’s not a racial thing,” while at
the same time outlining power dynamics that were clearly centered on the issue of race.
It became obvious that they did not want to be labeled “racist.” Only Dale, a 44-year-old
White, admitted to being prejudiced, but added: “I was never prejudiced until I was in-
carcerated.”
In the cell units at the county jail that only have one television set in the dayroom
segregation is practiced in a different way. Inmates told me that here Blacks and Hispan-
ics take turns getting front-row seating and deciding what to watch. They alternate be-
Convention