#greymalkin prison is not justice it's a concentration camp

[soviet-supersoldier]

So, originally when I heard this event was coming up, I wasn't going to say anything about the X-manhunt event. This event is about Xavier and it wasn't likely that Arkady would be involved at all. But then Rogue decided to make this comment in Uncanny X-Men #11:

So now the gloves are off. And I am once again going to be putting a sharp focus on how the X-men are not acting like heroes and are really failing to actually do their jobs and get rid of the blight that is Greymalkin prison.

As the Raid on Greymalkin event had revealed, the mutant inmates, whose members not only include Omega Red, but also include other characters such as Blob, Siryn, Monet, and Wildchild, are all being tortured and brainwashed into mutant hunting "trustees." In previous posts, I have talked about those effects on the prisoners and how it is affecting those characters all for the worse. In short, all these mutant prisoners do not deserve to be treated as less than human. They should not be forced to say an anti-mutant creed that forces them to think of themselves as monsters. They shouldn't be imprisoned at all.

Every single one of these characters, including Omega Red, have previously been allies with the X-Men. Arkady himself was a member of X-Force during the Krakoa era and was very loyal and dedicated to actually becoming a better person during his days as a member. Given how Rogue has not seen Omega Red since his very first appearance more than 30 years ago, she may not necessarily be aware of the redemption arc he's been on since 2017, but it still seems very forced for her to lump Arkady in with characters who have been shown to be unwilling to change when he himself has shown to have made considerable progress as a character once the X-men started treating him like a person and cured him of his need to kill to live.

This impression of Rogue in current books doesn't get any better once you start reading the X-manhunt crossover. Despite previously going on a Raid of Greymalkin Prison, seeing the conditions of said prison, and getting threatened by Warden Ellis that she had a satellite weapon ready to blow up the X-men's home in Louisiana, Rogue still comes willingly to Greymalkin Prison and willingly works with the warden with no reservations. Instead, she stands in the same room and holds a civil conversation with the warden as if this harpy isn't responsible for the torture of mutants, didn't transform the X-mansion into a concentration camp or threaten to blow up entire towns.

Rogue should not be meek and accepting of this situation. She should not accept that mutants need to be sent here and tortured. And she shouldn't be acting like this towards Warden Ellis after the threats she's made and the things she's done. But yet Rogue does. She and her entire team are condoning this place by working with Warden Ellis. It's sickening.

And Rogue is sadly not the only X-men character who seems to think that Greymalkin Prison is necessary. Over in Storm's book, Both Cyclops and Storm seem to similarly accept Greymalkin as something that is either necessary or they can't do anything about. Storm's talk with Charles makes it seem that she is not against imprisonment of mutants, only offering Xavier different accommodations as a prisoner at a different site. Her promise of sanctuary for people in need apparently doesn't extend to people who are actually in need. Storm here doesn't want Xavier's presence to affect her and her standing with the authorities. She never considers if the "arrests" made of the mutant prisoners trapped in Greymalkin are even legal or if they were made in response to an actual crime. Spoiler alert: they weren't. None of the inmates in Greymalkin did anything wrong. All their "arrests" were illegal. And they have all been subject to cruel and unusual punishment while there. A lawyer like Jennifer Walters or Matt Murdock would have a field day if they got a chance to defend even just one of the prisoners of Greymalkin.

Storm continues to point out statistics that only adds to the bleak situation mutant prisoners face when they are incarcerated. These are not good things to hear with regards to the treatment of mutant prisoners across the board and further show why the X-men should not be putting such blind trust in the system when it is proving time and time again to be a system that's actively harmful to mutants. Instead, like so many times before in this new era, the X-men do nothing to try to address these issues and try to prevent these deaths from happening when mutants attempt to escape prison. They are leaving the most at-risk members of the mutant community to fend for themselves.

Then there's Cyclops. He shows up here in Storm's book as well to drag Charles back to prison.

His argument here really screams of appeasement. He's willing to allow certain mutants be thrown to the wolves if it means the rest of the mutants are allowed peace. Just don't ask Scott to actually sacrifice himself or any of his teammates for such a noble cause. No, he'll break those teammates of his out with no hesitation whatsoever. Because his mutants are apparently better than the ones locked up and tortured in Greymalkin. Scott's X-men don't deserve that kind of unethical treatment. But apparently, he thinks that these mutants do. It reeks of double-standards.

Once again, the X-men are not seeing their own kind as people. They don't see what is being done to the prisoners of Greymalkin as wrong. They are all continually failing to protect mutantkind and are hypocritically only protecting their own teammates. Consistent morals have no place in this new era of X-men.

As I've said before, this is not the X-men that I know. These characters are not acting like they should, especially given what they know about Greymalkin prison. The X-men should be marching on that place in anger and razing it to the ground. Not playing around with people's lives and deciding who is worthy of being free and who isn't. They are not being heroes. They are all acting incredibly selfish and short-sighted. Something seriously needs to change in their attitude because, quite frankly, this is appalling behavior by them. They need to do better and do right by all the mutant prisoners.

Do better X-men. Do better.

[soviet-supersoldier]

Well, Omega Red got name-dropped in X-men #9, which reveals that he is still locked up in prison here. However, Kurt’s dialogue is very unfortunate:

I shall indeed call you a poor mutant liberationist Kurt. You have seen what this prison is doing to people. Omega Red was an ally on Krakoa and a teammate to Wolverine. You are seriously going to leave him to suffer in this place? Why? Because you still think he's a "bad mutant?" You don't think he changed while on Krakoa? Whatever happened to seeing the good in people Kurt? Second chances? Belief in redemption? You'd think Kurt of all people would be decent enough to show kindness. Especially when cruelty is being shown to another human being, to a fellow mutant.

Like so many times before this, the X-men continue to show that they only care about their own core group, with no regard for mercy towards their less fortunate mutant brothers and sisters. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up leaving Blob here too because of his past Brotherhood ties. Recent ties and character growth when former villains are finally given an opportunity to change simply doesn't matter, I guess.

You guys are supposed to be heroes, Kurt. To stand against injustice wherever it occurs no matter who is the one experiencing the injustice. This prison is enancting cruel and unusual punishment on its inmates. Are you going to let such a prison stand? Even if you don't care about Arkady, shouldn't you at least care about what this prison represents? What allowing it to stand will lead to? "First they came for the undesirables, and I did not speak out..."

Knowingly abandoning someone like Omega Red like this is only going to cause the little trust he had started to build with the X-Men on Krakoa to be shattered again. Omega Red values trust and honesty. That's how Sage was able to reach him and help him change. But with the way you're treating him now, Arkady is never going to trust you people again. And with the way X-men like you look down on him and treat him as undeserving of even the smallest kindness, Arkady has more than enough good reason to believe you will never actually care. You've proven time and time again that you don't.

What an incredible shame. You really could have gotten a powerful and loyal ally here if you had just taken the chance on him. He doesn't have to be a villain anymore, but you still insist that he deserves being tortured and left behind to suffer even while you hypocritically say that people in your special friends group don't deserve to be in the same place. So what? You're the judge and jury on who deserves to be saved or not? Are you going to walk through this prison letting certain people free while leaving the others because you don't like them? That's not what a hero does. You should know better. Shame on you, Kurt and Psylocke. Shame on you.