End Legal Slavery in US Prisons

If you ask most Americans if there’s slavery in the United States, they will answer “No.” It was abolished during the Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. At least that’s what many of us were taught in History, Civics, and Problems of Democracy classes in high school. But is it true?

Unfortunately, no. The hard, cold truth is that slavery is still legal in the U.S. Would it surprise you to learn that there are over two million slaves right now in America? You say you can’t believe it. Let’s take a closer look. A common Civil War misconception is that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. It did not. President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation in July of 1862 after the battle of Antietam, but it was not made official until January 1, 1863.

It freed only those slaves in areas administrated by the Confederate Government, where the federal government of President Lincoln had no control.

The 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. Section 1 “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” So slavery, as a punishment for a crime a person has been duly convicted of, shall exist within the United States.

How about that? There are currently over two million prisoners incarcerated within the U.S. who are, in fact, slaves. We speak of slavery in the past tense as an abhorrent evil that was banned in Civil War times, when the truth is that we should speak of slavery in the present tense as an abhorrent evil that continues to exist in the U.S.

American slaves are men, women, and juveniles, White, Black, Hispanic, Native, and Asian. We are very inclusive in who we enslave in this country. Now some may argue that since some prisoners are paid something for their labor, they are not slaves. Minnesota, for example, pays well for prisoner labor. In 1992 I earned $2.50/hr. as a teacher’s aide in MCF-Stillwater. Other states, like Arizona, pay inadequate subsistence wages that haven’t been increased in over forty years.

Can you imagine living in today’s world with the wages you earned in 1984? Arizona prisoners do it every day. Top wages in the Arizona Work Incentive Pay Program are 45 cents an hour for 30 hours a week for total of $27.00 every two weeks.

Then there are states like Texas where work is mandatory, but they pay prisoners nothing. Juneteenth, a Black American holiday celebrated in prison, is based on the Emancipation Proclamation, purportedly the date which it took effect in Texas. How ironic, especially for Black prisoners in Texas, who are still slaves. It makes you want to stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the Star Spangled Banner, doesn’t it?

Shame on you America. We are so much better than this. Keep in mind that at least 5% of those two million prisoners are actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. That’s 100,000 innocent people in legal slavery in US prisons. We think chains and leg irons are things of the past, but they’re not. Every prisoner in America has firsthand knowledge of handcuffs, waist chains, and leg shackles. Solitary confinement, “the hole,” has been perfected by the sensory deprivation of special management units where prisoners are locked away in isolation.

The physical and psychological suffering is profound and lasts long after many prisoners are released. The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of soldiers in war, like Vietnam Vets, has been joined by the PTSD of American prisoners serving 20, 30, 40 or more years in prison.

Any article about American slavery would be remiss without the mention of sexual slavery. How many Americans, especially women and juveniles/children are held in sexual bondage? The truth of this horror is just beginning to come to light. This hideous crime perpetrated by all manner of sexual deviants is yet another aspect of the truth that our nation is reluctant to admit. Wake up people!

So the next time someone tells you there is no more slavery in the good old U.S.A., ask them to carefully read the Thirteenth Amendment. We need to open our eyes as Americans and face reality instead of pretending that it just ain’t so.