Critical race theory is about to segregate America like an open-air prison yard

Originally Published on NYPost.com

When new inmates arrive in California state prisons, they pass through the gauntlet of other men and must make a quick decision: With whom do they stand? They have four options: the whites, the blacks, the Latinos and the others.

For most of the “fish,” or fresh convicts, it’s not much of a choice — they are chosen. The prisons are divided into strictly separated racial gangs, which have their own leadership structure, lunch tables, yard space and black markets.

New inmates typically fall in with their racial brothers: whites with whites, blacks with blacks, Latinos with Latinos. The only exceptions are those who join the others: a collection of smaller ethnic groups, sexual minorities and whites who refuse to join with the Aryan Brotherhood.

California prison gangs operate on a model of collective, identity-based security. If a white inmate attacks a black inmate, or vice versa, their racial compatriots must fight to protect the group’s interests. The threat of race war, they believe, is the only way to secure peace. The prisoners maintain separate facilities, sleeping quarters and trade networks. An individual might not want to join his racial clique, but his survival depends on doing so.

Courts have occasionally attempted to integrate prison facilities but have never succeeded. Prison wardens have accepted the racial reality and work in tacit cooperation with the gangs to maintain the status quo.