America’s enslaved prisoners go on strike

Latest

 
On August 21, 2018, inmates in prisons and immigration facilities across America and Canada went on hunger strikes, sit-ins, boycotts and work stoppages to protest their exploitation and abusive conditions. The protests, which lasted 19 days, were sparked by the preventable deaths of seven inmates at a riot in the Lee Correction Institution in South Carolina in April. The strikers have 10 demands which call for humane conditions, an end to slavery (average wage is 93 cents per hour but can go as low as 16 cents), racial justice, an end to denial of rehabilitation, and rescinding of unjust laws and voting rights. Below is some further historical context.
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified on December 6, 1865,) reads as follows:
“Section 1. 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.
“Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
While many of us have been taught that this law abolished slavery in the United States; the words in italics in Section 1 clearly show that Congress did not intend to abolish slavery; it merely shifted slavery from the plantation to the penitentiary and as a punishment for crime. Black codes and Jim Crow, specifically designed to criminalize and enslave newly freed Blacks, soon followed the passage of the Amendment.
Today, the slave masters of old have been replaced by corporations that exploit prison slave labor in pursuit of maximum profits. Some of the companies guilty of this are: Whole Foods, McDonald’s, Target, IBM, Texas Instruments, Boeing, Nordstrom,Intel, Wal-Mart, Victoria’s Secret,  Aramark, AT&T, BP, Starbucks, Microsoft, Nike, Honda, Macy’s and Sprint.
(Wikipedia, Penal Labor In The United States.)

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Emmy-Winning Journalist Deported After Reporting on Anti-Trump Protest

Emmy award-winning journalist Mario Guevara was deported to El Salvador – a country he fled over 20 years ago — in retaliation for filming law enforcement activities, says the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A Salute to Chicagoans Fighting ICE

A salute to Chicagoans fighting ICE and to the food delivery worker on a bicycle who outrode ICE agents after they tried to kidnap him on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Over 60 Lawmakers Launch Investigation Into Trump Administration’s Disappearances

Some Democrats in Congress have announced they are investigating the Trump administration’s practice of disappearing immigrants to other countries.

America Cannot Afford This Dangerous Step

Americans should be chilled at government's recent designation of “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization (it isn't an organization). This allows for the criminalization of broad swaths of dissent, and won't stop with "Antifa."

America is Divided—But it’s the Wrong Divide

The real divide is between those who have and those who don't. We have the abundance to care for everyone and government must see to it that people's needs are met.

More from the People's Tribune