The Lingering Injustice of Attica

Forty years ago, 1,000 inmates in the New York prison Attica started a reform protest that would last for five days. This was arguably the rebellion with the biggest impact on American history.
The inmates were fighting for their rights; most of the incarcerated at this time were African American or Puerto Rican. All the prison's gaurds were white. This led to predicatable discrimination against the inmates. Men with serious medical conditions like polio weren't provided with the proper care. Men who had commited more mild crimes like driving without a license wouldn't recieve the same treatment as men who commited more serious crimes.
After writing to state officials and hearing nothing back, they decided to rebel. They took several hostages, and overall behaved in a civil manner towards anyone they came in contact with; they elected officials from each cell block to negotiate their rights with law officers.
Instead, Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller refused to comply with the inmates demands. On the fifth day he ordered S.W.A.T. to drop tear gas on the prison from helicopters, while the rest of the team stormed the walls. 39 people died that day, 29 prisoners and 10 hostages. Forty years later, the state of New York still hasn't taken responsibility for the deaths.
The author was very clear that she was disgusted with the treatment of the inmates that went on during those five days. However, it seems like after reading the article, New York state and the particulars about this incident weren't the main focus of her article. Her main point seemed to be to prove that lots of things are lost to people on an individual level when the state and the government overreacts to a situation; many of the families of the victims of the massacre were never properly reimbersed.