Chain Gang All Stars

The relationship between mass incarceration and structural inequality is demonstrated through the demographics of the participants in the CAPE program and through the specific challenges they face. Links are disproportionately people of color, reflecting the fact that people of color are disproportionately incarcerated in the real United States. As the narrator notes, Black women are incarcerated at about twice the rate of white women, and Black men are incarcerated at about six times the rate of white men. The pool from which CAPE participants are drawn is large despite the fact that only those who have either received a death sentence or a prison sentence of 25 years or more are eligible. This is a commentary on the fact that the real United States incarcerates more people than any other country and the fact that prison-owning corporations increase profits by incarcerating more people. In the CAPE program, people of color face challenges that white combatants don’t deal with. For example, in addition to worrying about BattleGround matches, Scorpion Singer has to worry about the neo-Nazi triplets on his own Chain. Similarly, in our world, structural inequality affects not only who is incarcerated but also individual experiences during incarceration, contributing to a self-perpetuating cycle.