Pardon of Joe Arpaio Endorses Systematic Racism

On August 25th, 2017, President Trump made the decision to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio, just one month since he was formally convicted of criminal contempt. Arpaio, who lost his seat as sheriff in the 2016 election, branded himself as ‘America’s toughest sheriff’ due to his harshly conservative views on immigration.

While the tendencies of the sheriff and his deputies to racially profile and abuse inmates physically and emotionally had been brought to the public eye early in Arpaio’s reign, a court order was only recently issued in 2011 prohibiting the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office from continuing to detain Latinos under the suspicion that they were not legal residents with no proof besides ethnicity. Despite this, he and his deputies neglected the court order and continued to racially profile and illegally detain Latinos without probable cause.

In 2013, he was convicted of violating constitutional rights. In 2017, he faced the possibility of up to six months in prison.

Just this month, the president indirectly endorsed systematic racism by giving him a full presidential pardon.

Just how bad were the conditions that Arpaio’s inmates endured? Alexander Reynolds, who went undercover in Arpaio’s prison in 2014, went as far as to compare it to a concentration camp. His most controversial experiment was that of the ‘tent jail’, an outdoor prison camp where inmates were forced to live in military tents without any protection from the sweltering heat and cold temperatures that plague Arizona throughout the summer and winter months. Inmates were not only prohibited from wearing sufficiently insulated clothing when the temperatures nearly reach freezing, but were forced to stay outside when temperatures reached up to 125 degrees, causing all of them to strip down to their underwear. Heat exhaustion was common, as were ambulances taking people away from the tent prison due to heat stroke. One man died due to the blistering heat.

As a form of humiliation, Arpaio made sentenced inmates wear pink underwear. It was also widely speculated that he created the first female chain gang.

While it is likely that Arpaio would have gotten off the hook due to lack of punishment for police who racially profile, Trump’s decision to pardon him provides a true presidential endorsement of institutionalized racism. Although it is alarming that a man who vehemently and unapologetically perpetrated anti-Latino practices endorsed the man who now inhabits the oval office, it is sadly unsurprising.

Drawing parallels between Trump and Arpaio is almost too easy, as they both attempt to cover up internalized racism with the label ‘anti-immigration’. Pardoning Arpaio is a bold move, even for Trump, but it will reward him with approval from the far right-wing sector of his base. If America has learned anything from the current administration, it is that the president thrives off of the approval of those who are similar to him: upper-class white conservatives.

Donald Trump has shown the world his true colors; letting racists run rampant and pardoning inexcusable offenses. Joe Arpaio deserved to serve time for violating constitutional rights, but instead, the abuser was given the opportunity to act as the victim.