Racism – Cherie Livett Bombell

Browsing Posts tagged racism

Haunting Memory Finally Makes Sense

October 3, 2010 Cherie Bombell 1 comment

Tweet I recently read Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy Tyson. It helped me to make sense of an incident that happened at Geneva in the 70s – one that has haunted me since. A man that worked on Wallace Cottage sometimes made bad decisions. I’m going to call him Mr Jay. He played […]

Kids Behind Bars 1970s, African Americans, Blood Done Sign My Name, Department of Corrections, Geneva Illinois, Geneva Illinois Girls School, Illinois State Training School for Girls, incarcerated, life lessons, racism, Timothy Tyson, young offenders

Poverty vs privilege

January 2, 2010 Cherie Bombell 9 comments

The inmates were only a few years younger than me. Most were smart though not educated; most came from inner city Chicago – ‘the ghetto’. Most were born into poverty and I into security. They’re black; I’m white. My color and social standing bestowed ‘privilege’ on me – a valuable commodity that those kids didn’t have access to.

Kids Behind Bars Department of Corrections, ghetto, incarcerated, Juvenile justice, life lessons, Poverty, racism, reform school, young offenders

Incarcerated for Truancy

December 15, 2009 Cherie Bombell 5 comments

I remember a beautiful girl, Denise, 11 years old and incarcerated for truancy. She would sit in the TV room at night and rock forward and back, forward and back, her arms encircling her body in an attempted hug. Taking a young girl out of her family home for truancy was and is a terrible thing to do. Her innocence was exposed to older and wilder girls that had life experiences Denise couldn’t comprehend. She was a beautiful, innocent child and you can bet if she’d been white, she would never have heard of ‘Geneva’.

Kids Behind Bars Geneva Illinois, Illinois State Training School for Girls, incarcerated, Juvenile justice, racism, truancy, young offenders