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by Tad Hinnenkamp '00 On September 13, 1971, a four-day revolt at the Attica Correctional Facility (near Buffalo, NY) ended when over 1,000 state police and National Guardsmen stormed the complex. Over 40 people died, including 10 of the 38 hostages. The prisoners who demanded to be heard wanted better living conditions and many were willing to die rather than live in such conditions. One of the convicts stated, "We do not want to rule; we only want to live...but if any of you gentlemen own dogs, you're treating them better than you treat us." The headlines in the papers included, "I Saw Slit Throats," meaning prisoners cut the hostages' throats when the armed raid occurred (remember that the raiders had 1,000 well-armed men while the prisoners were 1,000 with no ammunition). But 25 years after the event, it was found that these statements accusing the prisoners of killing the hostages was just a lie started by the police and surrounding community, many of whom worked at the prison. Dr. John F. Edlan and Dr. Baden both later stated that all of the hostages, except one (who died before the raid) died of gunshot wounds. The guards and police shot everyone. Stories to the contrary were nothing more than a lie. What can be concluded was that these men were driven to great desperation because of horrible "living" conditions in the prison system. As one senator remarked, "the Attica tragedy is more state proof that something is terribly wrong in America." There was something terribly wrong. At Attica, 85 percent of the inmates were African-American or Puerto Rican in the custody of racist guards who "hated niggers and spics." The prison was in an environment of bigoted hatred. This was not a place of compassion where prisoners could be rehabilitated. If there is one good thing to come out of the 1971 Attica prison riots, it was that despite all the hatred against them, these men, who had nothing, discovered that they had each other, regardless of their backgrounds. They were able to combine their common beliefs into a politicized uprising, striking injustice, bigotry, and decrepit living conditions. It's too bad the mainstream press and the government didn't notice, which is evidenced by the prison-system today.
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