Modern Slavery

Okay so this blog is perfect because I was just reading about this in my world studies class, and I thought it was pretty interesting! So as everyone should know, a couple hundred years ago slavery was alive and thriving. Africans were taken from their homes in the night and placed on boats on a journey to America, where they were bought like objects and forced to work long hours without pay. The slave owners or masters, as they were called, used inhumane tactics and created strict rules to oppress the workers. Everything that was put in place was created to destroy the progress of blacks and further engrave the idea that they were worthless and couldn't even be compared to their white counterparts. Fortunately, the civil war came about and slavery was later abolished in America; or at least the "man" made it seem that way. Was slavery erased? Has our country overcome slavery? Well if you ask the author of The New Jim Crow, she would argue no. 

Like the slaves, who were in chains and brought down by the weight of oppression unable to vote, obtain an education, be included in social activities, or treated with respect, black people, who make up about 12% of the American population, fill up 40% of the prisons alone. According to Michelle, the author of the article, this is because of the drug war which is used as a new way to push the black community further behind and exclude them from the American society once again. The argument presented in this article is basically that the white man presents a way for the poor, of all races, to make money through drugs, and then the white legal system in term comes back to chain the poor, but this time only/mostly blacks, shipping them to jail; in jail theses drug dealer criminals are given a felony, as this is against the law. This label of a felon decreases their chances of getting a job, takes away their ability to get any type of government support, ability to vote, and they are excluded/discriminated against for the rest of their lives; these struggles are similar if not the same as those of a slave. The modern slavery of America is the legal system and its almost invisible methods keeping the black race from furthering.

I don't know if I completely agree with this argument however it is a way to look things. Has our society found new ways to bring others down? Is this a conscious or unconscious action? Who's to say but I thought I'd share this idea and get other people’s opinions on it.

Modern Slavery=Legal System?