I was delighted to see the wonderful article about Lois Ahrens’ well-deserved award from the Massachusetts Teachers Association honoring her work on behalf of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
The Real Cost of Prisons Project is something everyone in Northampton can be proud of, and I know I’m proud of my union for recognizing Ahrens’ efforts.
However, I couldn’t help but be taken aback by the use of the term “inmate advocate” in the headline. I know that Ahrens never uses the term “inmate,” because it is widely regarded by incarcerated people as offensive and dehumanizing.
Like the related word “facility,” it sanitizes the experience of imprisonment in the public eye while rendering incarcerated people further invisible. I would encourage the Gazette to avoid these terms.
If people want to learn more about this issue, please see the article “Names Do Hurt,” published by Rewire, which cites Tina Reynolds and other formerly incarcerated people in a call for media outlets to jettison the term “inmate,” just as the Associated Press and other outlets have already stopped using “illegal immigrant” and other terms that make it easier to strip people of their human rights and dignity.
Sigrid Schmalzer
Northampton