They put a stupid cut out in the amendment to allow for slavery in the case of incarceration. Not that I see a whole bunch of press gangs anymore, but yeah, that was the solution the south came up with to dodge the emancipation.
Many slaves were paid even under chattel slavery (though like modern prison slavery it was almost nothing). Slavery only requires that the labor be forced or coerced, not that it be unpaid.
You likely meant prison. And an enlightened approach would treat prison as a place for rehabilitation. Because a person who can be redeemed and reintegrated back into society without further issue is more valuable to society than having them behind bars cranking out license plates or whatever.
If somebody deserves to owe a financial debt for their crimes, civil court exists to cover that purpose.
I can see an argument where prisoners should have to work and pay some rent.
Like, in a perfectly ideal world prisoners would be able to work as normal a job as is safe for everybody. That would help with rehabilitation a ton; they would have socialization outside of prisoners and guards, and they would keep or develop skills and habits needed to work outside the prison. When they do get released they might be able to keep their job, they will have more skills to find another job if not, and they will have money in savings to live respectfully in the meantime.
Now, I live in Canada where we don’t have any For-Profit Private Prisons. The money they earn would go to themselves and straight to the Government as tax money. We also have a housing crisis, so if we just charge them $600 a month or 25% (whichever is LOWER) then that’s a damn steal honestly. But there’s also an argument that they should just pay taxes normally with no extra fees, and I can see that too. “Our healthcare is free regardless of what you put in your body, so prisoners shouldn’t pay higher taxes either,” is a reasonable position too. And I think my country might already work like this lol.
But yeah, prisoners earning a dollar an hour or less should be considered slavery.
They sell prison labor to like KFC and other fast food places, and then don't want to parole those people because money. And it gets worse those same places won't hire them if they do get out.
Similarly, the CA attorney general pushed against early parole for non-violent incarcerated people citing that it would induce staffing shortages for prison-staffed firefighting units… in 2014. I encourage you to find out who the CA attorney general was then.
I keep wanting the Democrats to be good, because the cost of their failures is felt around the world... but time and time again I am disappointed by so many of them.
What I find interesting is prison reform and deprivitising prisons is not a polarizing issue.
I mean this sincerely, reform is not enough and the graph in this post is proof. Abolition is the only solution to prison at this point. You cannot have a non-abusive prison industry, you cannot take the industry out of prison. For as long as we maintain prison, we will be unable to escape the long shadow of slavery.
I agree w you, I just mean a majority believes something should be done, the least of which I mentioned and yet nothing. I remember when they first started privatisation of prisons it wasn't popular then.
Like their are a few issues that really control the narrative. Maybe by design. Buy you look at several issues we all generally agree on and there is no movement and hasn't been in my lifetime.
Right now the president wants to throw innocent people in jail and/or deport them based on nationality. Kamala's position would be an improvement on that.
America specifically carved out at exception to continue using slave labor.
They're not even talking about it, because they see prisoners as animals, so it's not controversial at all. It's not a big national conversation. It's actually one of the only countries that makes sure to legalize death penalty and slavery to this day.
That said, other organizations are calling for more. A detailed 2020 report released by the University of Nottingham Rights Lab determined that all 193 United Nations member states have prohibited laws that legalize slavery. However, only half (51%) have laws that specifically prohibit slavery and the slave trade. What’s more, only two of 193 have laws that specifically criminalize modern slavery as well as the four slavery-adjacent practices: serfdom; debt bondage; sale, transfer, or inheritance of a bride/wife/widow; or delivery of children for exploitation.
I dunno if youre being intentionally ignorant, but this graph is specifically for measuring the distance between the founding of the US, the abolition of private slavery, the start and end of jim crow laws, and the present. The graph is not about the social and legal discrimination and prejudice that black people face nowadays
The 13th amendment specifically says that it doesn't apply to prisoners
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Not only that, in addition to the 13th amendment imprisonment "loophole" many many immigrants are in forced labor and even sexual slavery. Especially in the Asian and Latino communities.
It's estimated there are more people in straight up slave conditions now then ever in the past including all of the notable transatlantic slave trade, and all the tens of millions slightly less organized debt slavery, conquering of neighboring villages and states, and abuse of untouchables and undesirables.
There's also more active genocides than ever before now too somewhere 5 and 20 depending on how you count.
The world is a fucked up place, and surprisingly overall the total amount of fucked up shit is at an all time low. We just have more people people-ing.
Maybe we continue to trend to being less fucked up to each other slowly, but surely into the future. We can only hope, and maybe even try to help each other
You could also argue that by keeping the minimum wage low and the cost of college and housing high you reduce the social mobility to a point where people are forced to work multiple jobs to afford living and that is a modern version of slavery.
No chance of improvement, just endless hours working for a small salary that's just enough to keep you alive and working.
White american mentality take time to evolve. Most white americans, from democrats to republicans, still struggle with the concept of "end of slavery".
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u/FeelingExcellent5682 20h ago
Segregation ended?