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By Margaret Adams
In 21st-century America, it is important for citizens to learn how to avoid enslavement. Since this is Black History Month, let’s examine the history and system of slavery in the U.S., and go over ways to protect yourself from becoming a modern-day “slave.”
Slavery has existed throughout mankind’s history and on every continent. Slaves built most of the world’s monuments. But the enslavement of Africans for the purpose of economic exploitation in the U.S. attracts the most attention. The African slave trade as practiced by this country’s founders is said to be one of the most inhumane treatments of a group of people.
The Emancipation Proclamation was supposed to be the formal end of slavery. While the law stated slavery was over, it has been practiced in other forms throughout the years, such as Jim Crow laws that were enacted after emancipation. Segregation has been another form of slavery, denying people of African descent access to the same benefits that people of the dominant society enjoy every day. The United States has been very creative in enslaving the very people they claimed to set free on Jan. 1, 1863.
Here are some suggestions for avoiding modern-day enslavement in this country.
First, become knowledgeable. The less you know about your history and the world around you, the more easily you can become enslaved. During slavery, teaching slaves to read was not encouraged. Educate yourself and take advantage of the educational and library systems in this country. Make it a point to learn your personal family history, then the history of the people who were brought here against their will. Learn the history of the U.S. on your own, not the history that has been promoted and taught by the dominant society of this country.
Learn how the local, state, and federal governments are supposed to operate and vote accordingly. Since slavery, the vote has been denied or suppressed because the vote means the power to change things. By not reading and voting, you become more likely to be enslaved by this system.
Next, stay out of jail. After emancipation, laws were enacted so that former slaves could be jailed for numerous petty reasons. Once jailed, they were placed on chain gangs that provided free labor under the law. Today’s form of chain gangs is the school-to-prison pipeline which provides labor at a low pay rate (as low as $3/month in Ohio) and results in former inmates losing their right to vote and gain meaningful employment. When legitimate employment can’t be found, former inmates resort back to crime and the cycle repeats itself.
Next, don’t be a slave to debt. This country denies poor people, people of color, and especially Black people the opportunity to participate economically on equal footing. While denying equal participation in financial wealth building, the financial institutions have been very clever and creative in the ways they have managed to trap people into never-ending debt situations. This is done by pushing credit card debt, and predatory lending practices. People are constantly bombarded via the media with things they just have to buy. This is by design—the more they can get people to buy and live above their incomes, the richer the few billionaires who own almost everything become.
So, during this Black History Month and every day and month hereafter, let’s put on our armor and fight against 21st-century enslavement. Become more knowledgeable, vote, stop criminal activities, and don’t be a slave to consumer debt.