Hello, this article explores the historical and current realities of prison labor in the United States, as well as the heavy toll that incarceration takes on families.
Moreover, it is crucial to remember:
Kamala locked up so many people that the Supreme Court eventually ruled her prisons unconstitutionally overcrowded.
Instead of releasing individuals, she maintained that her prison labor system (which can be defined as legal slavery) was too lucrative to abandon. 6/ pic.twitter.com/McOY2BQiy0
— Hold Dems Accountable (@PushDemsLeft) July 29, 2024
Harris has been quite candid about her priorities, yet she is far from alone in this regard.
Bianca Tylek, founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises—an organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and rectifying its impacts—authored this piece. The original publication can be found at openDemocracy.
In the United States, freedom has never been truly free. For Black Americans, the cost of freedom has been particularly steep, characterized by generations faced with impossible choices and forced compromises, resulting in the loss of history, family unity, financial security, and privacy.
Costs stemming from efforts to escape chattel slavery persist today as many fight against its lingering legacy within our carceral system. This reflects a continuous scheme of racialized community destabilization and economic extraction. In this light, proposals for a universal basic income in the U.S. should not merely be seen as charitable initiatives or policy innovations, but rather as essential reparations and forms of redress.
The 13th Amendment did not abolish slavery; it instead restructured it and cloaked it in secrecy. By incorporating an exception clause that permits slavery “as punishment for a crime,” Congress retained the legal basis for forced labor. Following emancipation, Southern legislators exploited this clause, criminalizing daily Black existence through Black Codes and funneling newly freed individuals into profitable “convict leasing” arrangements.
This shift rapidly transformed the U.S. prison population from predominantly white to predominantly Black, with exploitation of labor becoming the system’s foundation. This established the groundwork for today’s carceral state, a harsh reality that currently imprisons over two million individuals—many of whom remain unprotected from slavery, with Black Americans incarcerated at five times the rate of their white counterparts.
Slavery is not merely a historical relic of our carceral system; it is very much alive today.
Slavery Behind Prison Walls
Within prison walls, individuals are coerced into working under hazardous conditions for meager pay, often facing further punishment, such as the loss of family visits—punishments reminiscent of antebellum practices. Those incarcerated engage in various labor tasks, including farming, wildfire suppression, sewing uniforms, cleaning public spaces, and manufacturing state furniture, all while being stripped of basic labor rights and protections.
Efforts to organize are criminalized as riots, justifying violent repressions demanding obedience. Much like enslaved individuals were dehumanized, incarcerated people are viewed as disposable assets of the state—valuable only as long as they comply and generate profits.
The language throughout the carceral system reinforces this dynamic and pays homage to its roots in slavery. For instance, uniforms emblazoned with “Sheriff’s Inmate” and documents stating “Property of the State” strip individuals of their identities. Solitary confinement, a common penalty for noncompliance, is often referred to as “the hole” or “the box” by both incarcerated individuals and staff—nodding to similar punishments from the era of chattel slavery.
Even when incarcerated individuals receive payment for their labor, they typically earn less than a dollar an hour. According to a recent cost-benefit analysis, between $11.6 billion and $18.8 billion in wages is taken from incarcerated workers each year. These missing wages not only deny individuals income but also deprive their families and communities of crucial financial support, perpetuating cycles of poverty and instability.
The Human Cost
The devastation wrought by this centuries-long institutional racism on Black Americans is profound. As outlined in a recent report by FWD.us, We Can’t Afford It, families with incarcerated loved ones lose almost $350 billion annually in earnings alongside incurring new expenses for phone calls, commissary goods, and medical needs.
Currently, nearly 50% of adults in the U.S. have had an immediate family member behind bars. This figure rises to 63% among Black Americans. Black families also allocate two-and-a-half times more than white families to support those in prison. Upon their release, over 600,000 individuals each year often confront debilitating debt, lack of income, and barriers to employment and housing.
Consequently, these families frequently face the heart-wrenching dilemma of providing for their own needs versus supporting their incarcerated loved ones. Mothers, who often serve as the main financial and emotional pillars for families impacted by incarceration, find themselves sinking into debt while attempting to manage both responsibilities.
One in three families with an incarcerated family member takes on debt simply for communication and visitation purposes. Children bear the brunt of these challenges, grappling with housing instability, food insecurity, and ultimately the loss of parental guidance. Nearly half of Black children in the U.S. have experienced parental incarceration, illustrating systemic designs aimed at economic disenfranchisement across generations.
The Long Road to Repair
To address the unfinished business of abolition, Worth Rises has initiated the #EndTheException campaign. This initiative calls for the removal of the exception in the 13th Amendment that has perpetuated forced prison labor and mass incarceration since the formal abolition of chattel slavery. By advocating for the Constitution to truly eradicate slavery, the #EndTheException movement sets the stage for more comprehensive reparative initiatives.
Rectifying this enduring form of racialized harm in the U.S. requires more than mere acknowledgment; it necessitates redistribution. Reparations are fundamental, and a targeted basic income—unconditional cash payments to those most affected by incarceration—serves as a practical and impactful solution. Such payments would signify a historic turnaround, whereby public funds finally extend into the hands of individuals whose wealth has been systematically siphoned off through state violence for generations.
The legacy of slavery cannot be dissociated from the subsequent institutions that emerged: convict leasing, redlining, Jim Crow segregation, and mass incarceration. These are not isolated incidents of history; they embody a continuous cycle of exploitation, extraction, and control.
Through this lens, it becomes evident that the carceral system is not broken, but functioning exactly as it was intended. Ending the exception in the 13th Amendment and implementing a basic income for those affected by this system are two vital steps we can take to halt and remediate its enduring impact, both historical and contemporary.
