Monday, June 07, 2010

From Slavery to Prison Labor-Correctional Industrial Complex




African-Americans unemployment continues to grow. The United States reports that unemployment remains around 9.7-10%. This is the national average. When viewed by individual States you will find some States unemployment is higher than the national average. Go further and separate by races, and an alarming trends emerges, with 32% of African-Americans teenagers between the age 0f 16-19 unemployed.

Often the explanation for an insidious high number of in a groups' unemployment is cited as the group having less education than their counterparts. But a closer examination of statistical data will reveal that African-Americans have borne the historical burden of overcoming slavery, indentured servitude, lower wages and prison labor camps.

How many African-American prisoners will you find cleaning up BP oil spill on the Gulf? The owner of the environmental company in this article stated he has been using work release inmate for at least two years. The owner, "It's almost impossible for them to steal anything," Graddick said. "They're not walking around talking on cell phones. They're orderly, because repercussions are harsh. I've had less problems with these guys than when I've hired just normal people, '" quoted from the article.


What does it all means?


History describes an United States labor distribution as employing raced white males while enslaving African-American males. This meant that African-American males worked without payment which guaranteed a profit for those who enslaved African-Americans. Or for those raced whites who could steal and could capture African-American males to work their land. One could argue that generating wealth from slave labor was an incentive to maintain the slave system. But something happened to put slavery in disfavor for some business owners' interest. As the United States grew, other means for gaining wealth beyond farming would develop. New settlers were being encouraged to go west to take stake in the new frontier with new opportunies.


The burden of maintaining slavery was not in the best interest of these poor settlers who reached the new land. Without slavery, and slaves forbidden to cross the States line, these workers could hire themselves out to companies with new products or provide a service to other settlers in the promise land. But soon the emancipation act releasing enslaved African-Americans from bondage, and these settlers were not accustomed to working along side African-Americans. Wealthy business owners didn't need slave labor and didn't want these African-Americans living in their communities. But business owners saw the use of indentured servants as a way to increase their profit in the new world. These business owners created coercive contracts and used them to entice African-Americans to work as indentured servants. Promising these individuals freedom after they worked off their debt coming to the new land. Some of these workers signed contracts that put them and their children into servitude for long periods of time. Debts not paid made some African-Americans' prisoners without bars for life. Some African-Americans fought back disputing the debt and length of service. The bottom line was that indentured servants understood they were not bound for life to property owners. Refusing to work for property owners who could not afford to pay them however, would lead to a new system for containing African-Americans.


Some African-Americans committed petty crimes for survival. In order to protect property owners, many of these individuals were soon being contained in jails, later prisons. The cost of maintaining these individuals in jails and prisons were costly. Some private companies seeking a way to increase their profit, began to lease these prisoners. It did not take long for private companies to figure out that prisoners who did not work could be legally shot to death for failure to perform their duties.


The threat of violence by plantation owners against the enslaved for not following the rules was now being welded by prison guards against prisoners who did not follow the rules. Society may have soured over the moral issue of not tolerating slavery by abolishing it. . But, society would not tolerate individuals stealing from them, especially African-American males. So the ideal of punishing such criminal behavior was supported by the community.


The criminal code for certain types of punishment was established and those on the wrong side of the law had to suffer the consequence. Just dessert for those who could not follow society rules became the golden rule. However, the criminal justice system was never just about justice, it grew to be a part of the solution for containing the "Negro Problem." Today, prison system has managed to incarcerate one out three African-Americans males in the prime of their lives.


How does this happen?


Criminologists provide data to suggest that young African-Americans are more prone to commit criminal acts. At first criminologists tried to sell that it was in the genetics of young African-Americans to be criminals. This explanation was plausible for those in society seeking to explain the high concentration of African-Americans males in the prison system. These folks further added single mothers as the blame for continuing to bring children into the world who were predisposed to criminal behavior. In other words, African-Americans women were breeding children by African-American men who were unemployed THUGS. So in essence, when you lie down with dogs, don’t be surprised when you find yourselves with fleas.


But, is that the real story?


For me, I believe the real explanation for incarceration of young African-American males is buried under the debris of slavery. The political forces protected the slave institution until business owners could roll out a different version. The newer version of slavery would be selective coercion. Indentured servant by volunteering to agree in writing for a limited time to contract out their work skills would replace the forced lifetime slave labor. But unbeknownst to indentured servants the owners had no plans to release them from their contracts. But with indenture servitude came the right to sue for their freedom. Some private companies would turn to the criminal justice system like the State of Texas to supplement their need for cheap labor. Prisoners have no rights once convicted of crimes. Criminals gave up their rights under the penal system. Many of these criminals were and still are African-Americans males. Males who are born into a society that has systematically created laws to deny them opportunities based on their race.


How do young African-Americans survive in an economical based society?


The media touts the fact that unemployment has hovered around 9.7 % for the past three months. But remain almost silence on the fact the number represents the national average. Almost mute is the media in explaining what does unemployment means for select groups of folks in America?


Today, unemployment is astronomically high for African-Americans. Data is published that America is in a recession, but that does not mean there is no work in America. What it means is less paid work is going to African-Americans. The rate of unemployment for the raced white male on average dangles around 8% while the African-Americans slides closer to the high 16%. In some States, like Detriot the number of unemployed African-Americans is at 30%. But even more disturbing is the fact that other African-Americans males are not counted in these number because of being underemployed, or malemployed or just dropped out the employment system. As long as the preferred worker for jobs in America is raced whites, African-Americans will find themselves working the streets for sheer survival.


Not good enough, because working the streets is outside of mainstream America can lead many of these African-Americans males into tombs of the correctional industry complex being built in your community. Forget about males with over the top tattoos all over their bodies, or oversizes biceps, what felons bring back to the community is a number for life for petty crimes. And this new system of slavery based on that number labeling a felon as a possible return to prison life. And if these felons screw up three times, they may never return to their community, ever again.


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