Advocates: The U.S. Still Profits from Slavery Because the 13th Amendment Perpetuates Prison Labor

democracynow.org - As Ava DuVernay’s new documentary "13th" opens at the New York Film Festival, we speak to two people featured in the film: Malkia Cyril of the Center for Media Justice and Kevin Gannon of Grand View University.
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[@GeorgesOpinion]

So many non violent drug offenders and wrongfully accused prisoners in the system. Most are there because they can't afford a better lawyer. The system is broken and private prisons need be abolished

[@justaman-km1hl]

search the following using these search terms: Origins of American policing, click on the university of Kentucky paper, read it and share it. little has changed since its inception. I'm Lakota Sioux, Oglala Brule Rosebud tribe. We can and should defund police departments nation wide! Never to replace them with some kinder gentler slave master overseer. Abolish police permanently. We simply don't need them. Never have.

[@GeorgesOpinion]

***** that would simply create jungle justice, just have to amend laws and change leadership. Knowing those things are easier said than done

[@justaman-km1hl]

did you read the article? Many US cities have defunded their police departments and no chaos ensued. People are generally peaceful when their needs are met.

[@GeorgesOpinion]

***** I agree people are generally peaceful, but! Those cities aren't high unemployment places where poverty leads to desperation. We need to fix the poverty issue first before generally defunding police completely all across the country. We can at least move to create community policing instead

[@justaman-km1hl]

or we can defund them and take on the needs of the people as a community/family of protectors of the peace.

[@henrydieterich397]

Read the 13th amendment ver batum. It spells out that a punishment for a particular crime could be slavery or servitude. Please tell me which crimes in the US has this as its punishment. Answer: none. That being said, I think non-violent + victimless crimes should not be felonies, and there should be no private prisons.

[@agentofchaos7456]

Well there is prison labor.

[@elmerkilred159]

Okay, verbatim; 13th - 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. Which crimes in the U.S. has this as a punishment? All of them. "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted," OOOOPS!

[@zachbellfire]

Prison labor is a good thing. Instead of prisoners using tax payer money to just sit in a cell all day, they can put those tax dollars to work by giving back to the community. Now, there definitely should be less prisoners in the US, but that's a different topic. If they want to disrupt the community, they should absolutely have to give back to it.

[@marvintpandroid2213]

You appear to think that people get jailed fairly in America, why should the massively higher prison population be a different subject? If people are not jailed fairly then the forced labor of these people illegally obtained.

[@WithoutRemorse12]

Prison are ideally meant for reform. Best ways to do so is by offering education and skilled trades. Free Labor is no guarantee of reform.

[@marvintpandroid2213]

WithoutRemorse12 Free Labor is antithetical to reform

[@dakemroberts7326]

So "slavery" is okay as long as you can justify it as a "punishment for a crime", huh?!? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights demands the abolition of slavery in all of its forms -- there are no exceptions, excuses, or justifications, therefore, the yankee slave-state is in violation of the human rights of over 8 million folk who are under state control via prison, parole, or probation -- slaves of the state!!!

[@agentofchaos7456]

+Dakem Roberts Yes, the 13th Amendment states that slavery is legal if it’s punishment for a crime. Through human history slavery has never been really inherently frowned upon when used on criminals and war captives. It’s only when innocent people are enslaved is when people had a problem with it.

[@dancook4993]

All prison labor should be outlawed.

[@bettywhite3296]

That guy is so smart, and so is the white one

[@foxbat144]

In the Soviet Union the prisoners were forced to work until they die, I think the name was "Gulags".

[@foxbat144]

Why immigrants, Italians, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, will be penalized for something that did not, after all, their taxes will be used for the alleged "repair". Right?

[@regaininglife9084]

99.9999% of the comments here are ignorant.

[@williambriggs4574]

Ur comment is the only ignorant one I've seen so far

[@stayswervin554]

Truthfully

[@3345646]

Every issue has two sides................. The Angola Prison gives meaningful work like caring for animals or wood working. Many find redemption and changed lives.

[@spectraphantom9374]

Unless it's a nonviolent offense, these prisoner need to be put to work, especially the rapist and murderers

[@bobnub8194]

What? The sentence for a crime does not include "will do hard labor while in prison".

[@kavabean]

It's a false economy. Once you make prisoners work you create an incentive for those that control the state to put more people in prison to get free labour (see current situation in USA). Then you get hundreds of thousands of people working in prison instead of in the economy. Forget morals this is terrible just on economics. It's less efficient from a labour perspective (free individuals work much harder). It also destroys families which has a huge cost to the economy due to poorly reared children and higher stress levels across society. Add in the moral failure of undue punishment for many that are caught in the profit-incarceration trap and I don't see how anyone could be for prison labor.

[@spectraphantom9374]

Ben Kavanagh that's why o said certain crimes. Murderers and rapists need to suffer for what they've done, but weed smokers haven't hurt anyone and don't deserve to suffer . That's just an example . However, private prisons do need to be shutdown

[@bobnub8194]

Spectra Phantom Again. The sentence for rape and murder is prison, not prison and hard labor.

[@dakemroberts7326]

I do not care what a person is either accused of doing or found guilty of doing -- nothing justifies the use of slavery as a punishment. What about helping those sick people -- instead they run the prisons!!!

[@iDimOS72]

Oops!Sounds like my previous comment,in that video with ms DuVerney!

[@THESocialJusticeWarrior]

They should earn their keep.

[@Fournier46]

IKR! those black people are always making money in their ivory towers, not having to learn of the struggle of white people, oblivious to how undiagnosed psychopathology in the police force and poorly concieved quota systems for drug arrest cause some high school bullies who became cops to prey on poor white communities, planting marijuna on people left and right. I'd wrap up this joke but I'll see if you earn it first m8, or if I don't hear back I guess you've just been arrested on false drug charges faster than a man with high melanin levels and an average-looking car.

[@angelene990]

ndyt are you serious? In what you are saying.

[@THESocialJusticeWarrior]

Vanguard only black people are in jail?

[@THESocialJusticeWarrior]

Angelene R people in jail should earn their keep.

[@THESocialJusticeWarrior]

C J Titan why not both?

[@alexzandarnielson9880]

I don't know why he or she is whining like they've been oppressed she obviously doesn't look like she's going hungry

[@UrbanVision313]

This documentary contains no facts and no data. It's full of incomplete information formatted to fit a ridiculous rhetoric. In fact, if you cite any of the information contained in this movie in the context applied, you will look like an ignorant fool.

[@rockjm9876543210]

UrbanVision313 Where's your sources that contradict this information? Why don't you write a book or a review in response to the information in this documentary.

[@dakemroberts7326]

It cites the 13th Amendment -- how much more facts and data do you need?!?

[@UrbanVision313]

Dakem Roberts could you be any more vague in your comment? I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.