The only exception to forced labor in the american constitution is for prisoners. Our prison system has been heavily based on punishment and not rehabilitation since the 1980s. We have the largest incarcerated population in the entire world by a very long shot. If you get arrested for something and are innocent but awaiting trial (can take 1-2 years) and can’t pay bail you will be in jail for that amount of time. You have to work a job while incarcerated in most cases. If you do get paid, it can be as little as 10 cents an hour and is not exempt from taxes.
Black people are disproportionately overrepresented in the system despite being just 13% of the population. Black people are more likely than white people to be found guilty and on average get longer sentences than white people for the exact same offence. Things associated with “black behavior” are more heavily criminalized. An example of this is the sentence duration of crack vs cocaine. Crack is more associated with poverty and blackness so it had a much longer minimum sentence than cocaine which is associated more with rich white circles. Basically our prison system unfairly targets people for being poor and a person of color.
spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Yep. The 14th amendment didn’t abolish slavery like we’re taught in schools, but made it so you could be legally enslaved as a punishment for committing crimes. They then just happened to make shit like “walking around at night while black” or “being unemployed and black” crimes that they could imprison you for and make you a slave again.