Did you know that the US Constitution does not outlaw slavery, but in fact protects it? Did you know that modern slave labor is being used to generate massive profits and avoid labor regulations? Let’s talk about it!
#Slavery #Prison #Police #abolition
0:00 – Intro
1:13 – Slavery Emerges
3:27 – Slavery Evolves
8:24 – Slavery Endures
16:38 – Anticipating Criticism
20:39 – Capitalism, Racism, Ableism
Shout out to Bigg Villainus from Overthrow Media for consulting on this – https://www.youtube.com/c/OverthrowMedia
Transcript: https://justpaste.it/5hb0m
Works Cited:
General Sources –
Adamson – https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.2307/800272
Randall Shelden, 2005, Black Commentator – https://blackcommentator.com/142/142_slavery_2.html
Hoffer, 2022 – https://harvardpolitics.com/involuntary-servitude-how-prison-labor-is-modern-day-slavery/
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/prison-labor-in-america/406177/
https://aaregistry.org/story/the-american-convict-leasing-program-a-story/
Prison Legal News –
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2010/mar/15/the-prison-industries-enhancement-certification-program-why-everyone-should-be-concerned/
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2012/nov/15/private-prison-companies-use-political-influence-to-increase-incarceration/
War on Drugs – https://eji.org/news/nixon-war-on-drugs-designed-to-criminalize-black-people/
Labor Shortages – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/20/companies-claim-theres-a-labor-shortage-their-solution-prisoners
Companies Using Prison Labor –
https://www.careeraddict.com/prison-labour-companies
Price Gouging –
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/884989263
https://www.prisonphonejustice.org/state/KY/
Lobbyists –
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?cycle=2018&ind=G7000
https://governor.arkansas.gov/news-media/press-releases/gov-hutchinson-joins-simmons-prepared-foods-to-announce-new-chicken-operat
https://revealnews.org/blog/third-lawsuit-this-month-filed-over-forced-labor-at-chicken-plants/
https://revealnews.org/article/they-thought-they-were-going-to-rehab-they-ended-up-in-chicken-plants/
Robinson – https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/06/the-clintons-had-slaves
https://gizmodo.com/the-climate-danger-of-kamala-harris-prison-labor-legac-1844712734
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/incarceration
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/slavery-a-positive-good
Mental Health Charts: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/more-than-half-of-prisoners-are-mentally-ill/389682/
Music – Remixed by Me
“Happy In Prison” (1928) – Ernest Phipps
“Carolina Glide” – Scottsdale String Band (1927)
Super Pipe House – Mario RPG
source
Folks, I need to confess something in the spirit of transparency and accountability. The tea in my spit take is not southern sweet tea, it's Chinese oolong tea because I hate sweet tea. And now I'm going to take a step back and take the time to listen and grow. Thank you.
Very intriguing and well done presentation on the topic. I definitely learned some new things 😊
I’ll be honest. I expected to roll my eyes a few times about how prisoners were now slaves. I did expect I’d be able to see his point and get a better understanding of some aspects of our society that are darker. What I wasn’t expecting was to be slapped with some hard truths. I’ll never be able to think of prisons and arrests the same way.
Mind you, I already thought prisons were way over crowded and police officers were unnecessarily aggressive.
I've seen a ton of shit that's made my blood boil, but this is making it evaporate. I fucking hope your channel explodes in popularity.
I can't believe you were ever a cop
Florida is basically a slave state with tyrannical LE. Then again, the same with all southern states. It’s white and black slavery. Good presentation
You're doing God's work.
Y'know, as black man I kind of get annoyed when white people in the states make slavery purely about them being the perpetrators. Not only were there black slave owners in the US, but where do you think the Europeans kept getting their supply of slaves from? From African rulers and warlords that enslaved them first and sold them to the European for wealth as well. And the Arabs where apart of that system. Im not denying that a large portion or white people in the US and in Europe used slavery as an excuse to promote a "white makes right" ideology, but it was not just them the were involved in the practice. Many blacks, Hispanics, other Africans and Middle Easterners were apart of the problem.
The whole prison “slavery” argument is misinformation. I was a CO in a state pen for just over 8 years. Inmates can only be forced to work only for public interests. The most common inmate job is chow hall duty where they cook and serve meals to other inmates. Inside grounds crews essentially mow the lawn within the institution. Outside grounds work on cleanup crews for the public (inmates have to apply for it). Inmates with skilled trades experience (plumbers, mechanics, electricians, etc…) can apply for special work details where they service the institution or public owned vehicles.
They aren’t being worked for free. They’re working for the roof over their heads, their health care (which is better than most citizens get), their meals, the expensive sports packages on the TVs they use for gambling, the tablets they get to entertain themselves, etc… Without mandated work details they would essentially be getting free housing, free health care, free tablets, free television sports packages, and free prepared meals. Why should tax payers pamper them with free everything where they vacation in front of the TV all day as a reward for being predators?
Our inmates had a minimum of two 70 inch TVs in every dorm. By the time I left they even had surround sound for the wall mounted TVs in the bays. They had plenty of money to spend at the inmate canteen too as a large majority of them had multiple female pen pals who sent them free money.
Im an excon. If convict workers went on strike, then the govt would be forced to hire outside workers to replace them. I always wondered if the huge increase in cost would be enough to force them to implement reforms to reduce the size of the prison population? There are around 100-150 kitchen workers alone at an average sized facility.
Until you show up in South Africa and realize stereotypes do very well exist.
Knowing better has a much more in depth and longer video on this topic called neoslavery. This country is honestly hilaroius and deplorable
This might be one of the most honest discussions about consent I've ever heard. Thank you so much for making this.
What's with this voice…
Just so everyone knows, the native american's were enslaving each other before europeans came.
I don't have the energy RN to watch the whole video, I hope you get to it you seem to know what you're talking about but in case it's not directly said
People should realize that every prison in the US is slavery. Every. Single. One.
You guys are all missing the bigger point. It's not just California. And it's not just this fire detail. Policing and charging Americans with crimes are out of control. It seems every police force wants nothing less than to charge someone with a felony so they are stripped of their rights as an American citizen.
No voting, while under parole, no travel, state to state or out of country, no right to own a gun EVER! Then until you DIE you are considered a criminal, denied even the most basic of jobs and have to wear that stain forever. Every time you are pulled over for a traffic infraction, every time you rent a property, apply for a job etc. You are scrutinized, branded or denied service. It never ends regardless if you made a mistake at 18 years old. You pay for it when you are 60.
Cops charge and judges dispense Felonies like candy on Halloween. It is disgusting.
I'm new to the channel so maybe you mentioned it elsewhere (I'm left-leaning but am not quite for abolishing police and am more for reform), but I don't think the 13'th amendment is to blame for the wording, if prison is inhumane and fines are regressive then there aren't many punishments possible for minor crimes involve community service, and it's really difficult to justify community service when you can't force people to do labor against their will even if they have committed a crime. Of course that loophole ended up being abused and needs to specify exactly what kinds of labor are allowed as a punishment for crimes, but it still makes at least some sense to have the exception in the amendment.
Oh I thought they were "paying a debt to society", this doesn't sound like it's benefiting society at all, it just sounds like capitalist slavery
If only I could get my family to watch this one. I just sent them a Leeja Miller video because it mentioned a school my nephew is going to (thanks Leeja!) even though she's a reformist, she's very smart. But the video was on separation of church and state so that won't go over well in the family group chat 😀
I had my house broken into when I was a child. The people stole all of our electronics besides the TV. Yes I was angry that they stole our shit, but I was more upset at the way the cops treated it.
They showed up late, said we'd need new locks (no shit), and told my family there was nothing they could do and that our best bet was to watch auction sites and pawn shops.
If I could have had my way, I wouldn't have cared about sending the thieves to jail, I'd have just wanted my stuff back.
I really appreciate this video for its information. However the assertion at approximately 16 and a half minutes in that capitalism is the problem is incorrect and overly simplistic. Hyper-capitalism (fascism by any other name) did not exist and had not corrupted our country completely until it slithered in thru the backdoor. Capitalism is an economic engine and a financial system, whereas the governmental system is (supposed to be) a Republican democracy. Neither system is pure. Both have been twisted and changed and corrupted and conflated in a seeming gambit to leverage confusion for radical change. Fools rush in.
It’s like capitalism is a myth
Some people are terrible people. Who should be locked away forever. However, they likely will never see a day in prison. As they mostly either work in government or owns the officials.
Idk about continued unabated, but continuing at all should be considered unacceptable, especially nowadays.