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It's never been about helping people (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/workreform@lemmy.world
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[–] 20 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Important to note this isn't new or restricted to red parts of the country. Vagrancy laws, laws against loitering, etc are all ways of criminalizing the poor to ensure we are all loyal wage slaves, and to a lesser extent feeding the prison-industrial complex. Many Steinbeck novels touch on this so it was a prevalent cultural touchstone in the 30s

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  • [–] 13 points 3 days ago

    To be clear, those rules were all ways of criminalizing BLACKNESS in the immediate aftermath of emancipation because the freed people had nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep. And since racism is a system designed to get the working class to do the dirty work of the owning class, it makes sense that laws intended to enforce racism get used against all poor people in relatively short order.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago

    a lot of systemic issues in the country have been around for a very long time. I always think of FDR's secretary or labor, Francis Perkins advocating for universal healthcare and 80-90 years later it's still an issue too few politicians take seriously.

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  • [–] -1 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    The forced labour part is relatively new-ish. I think the average American has no idea about the slave labour involved in their daily lives.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Forced labor is not new. When the USA amended the constitution in the aftermath of the civil war they explicitly banned private ownership of slaves but made a specific carve out for prison slavery. Immediately after emancipation the states created laws that freed black folk couldn't avoid and in 10 years the prison population went from 90% white to 90% black. And those black prisoners were leased to plantation owners to work their fields.

    Convict leasing lasted almost 50 years, but not before other modalities of prison slave labor had developed and matured.

    It is in no way a relatively new-ish thing

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (1 child)

    I meant as a political talking point its relatively new, but I also havent been around forever so it might be a recurring topic.

    I will say that in the 90s and 00s, the teaching was that we don't do slavery anymore. Very explicit that slavery is bad, but its in the past so no worries. This has led to a lot of people born in the 80s and 90s becoming aware of this reality much later into their adult lives.

    My guess is most of them still think slavery is "solved" in America. Most people aren't going to look at most of the brands in their grocery store and think, "slave labor helped bring me this product."

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  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago*

    This has led to a lot of white people born in the 80s and 90s becoming aware of this reality much later into their adult lives.

    My guess is most of them still think slavery is "solved" in America.

    I'm always glad when people come around, but it's also important to acknowledge this fact so we can correct it.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    13th amendment of the united states:

    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.

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