Sweatshop Prisons: the Civil War Didn’t End Slavery After All

[Judi Lynn]

June 16, 2016
Sweatshop Prisons: the Civil

by Lauren Karaffa

Slavery has been abolished in the United States since 1865, when the 13th Amendment was passed in the ashes of the Civil War.

Well, almost abolished. Actually, the amendment included a caveat: “except as punishment for a crime.” Since then, prison and forced labor have always gone together.

In fact, with over 2 million people behind bars in this country, the American prison system is a massive — albeit largely invisible — part of our economy and social fabric.

Recent years have seen a rise in both private prisons and the use of prison labor by private, for-profit corporations. This has created perverse incentives to imprison people and exploit them for cheap labor — often at 50 cents an hour or less.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/06/16/sweatshop-prisons-the-civil-war-didnt-end-slavery-after-all/

[scscholar]

1. The Republicans claim Lincoln ended slavery...

but we know that isn't true.

[zentrum]

2. Must See "Where To Invade Next"

Michael Moore's latest movie. He talks about this extensively and shows it on camera. All to make the point about how the country's refusal to admit its true history means slavery continues.

Victoria's Secret, for instance makes use of this kind of arrangement.
The ludicrous "war on drugs" and the "school to prison" pipeline for POC is very very lucrative for corporations.

It's "The New Jim Crow" as Michele Alexander would say.

[marble falls]

3. Welcome to the new plantation system!

[felix_numinous]

4. K&R