Prison Industrial Complex: Masked Racism and Legalized Slavery
“I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” — Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King’s dream was for true freedom and equality. While most people believe the 13th Amendment gave Black people this freedom, in reality it did not give them the freedom and equality MLK was hoping for. In today’s society, the equality and freedom for Black people is still under attack. The Prison Industrial Complex is a prime example of such inequlaities.
The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) consists of more than just the prisons themselves; it is the relationship between the prisons, the courts, police, corporations, and all other parties that benefit from the labor of the incarcerated. Prisoners are strongly encouraged to work and if they refuse to work, then their visitations will be revoked, or they will be placed in solitary confinement. Some may argue that the PIC is not at all like slavery, but what they fail to consider is that the majority of incarcerated people are Black or ethnic minorities. The 13th amendment was supposed to get rid of this issue but it is still exists in society. Due to a loophole in the 13th amendment, the Prison Industrial Complex is able to mask racism and make great profits through forced labor of the incarcerated.
What is the 13th amendment? The 13th amendment states, “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.” The amendment abolished slavery as it was, but failed to protect slaves from being criminalized and exploited after they received their freedom. Many former slaves were targeted and arrested for petty crimes that they often did not commit. Once convicted of a crime, the clause allowed for involuntary servitude. Once convicted, the person is essentially a slave and can be forced to work as punishment for their crimes. Former slave owners and racists knew this loophole and they exploited it to essentially revive slavery. Black Americans were targeted by new laws that discriminated against them.
The new laws were known as the “Black Codes”. The Black Codes required Black Americans to sign yearly labor contracts, and if they did not sign them, then they could be fined, forced into unpaid labor, or arrested. Essentially, it was illegal to exercise the same freedom as their white counterpart. All of this was made possible by the loophole in the 13th amendment and this loophole is still being exploited in today’s society through the PIC.
The PIC needs more labor and it is able to supply that labor by targeting Black Americans and other ethnic minorities. While the PIC also has white Americans in its system, the majority of its prisoners are Black Americans. Stop and frisks were one of the methods used by authorities to secure a constant supply of prisoners. A stop and frisk is when the police stop random citizens and search them for illegal substances or illegal weapons. In the early 2000’s, New York conducted hundreds of thousands of stop and frisks and the data showed that on average, only 10 percent of its stops were on white Americans while the rest were on Black Americans and other ethnic minorities.
The evidence clearly demonstrates that Black Americans have been stereotyped and targeted by the police. While roughly 80 percent of the stops were on innocent citizens, the 20 percent that were found with illegal substances or illegal weapons were sentenced. The population of illegal drug use among white men is higher than Black men, but Black men are 6.5 times more likely to be arrested and incarcerated as white men for drug-related crimes. In the documentary 13th (2016), DuVernay mentions a film called The Birth of a Nation (1915), Black men in that film are stereotyped as criminals, rapists, and dangerous to white women. Such stereotypes are still prevalent today and it needs to change.
The PIC benefits from these prisoners and that is why this masked racism continues to be overlooked. the PIC greatly profits from the labor of the incarcerated. Just how much profit does the PIC make from prison labor? Prison labor is a multi-billion dollar industry. The prisoners are payed only cents per hour and are not provided with any benefits. In federal prisons, 100 percent of able-bodied prisoners are required to work. The military benefits greatly; 100 percent of their helmets are made from prison labor. A lot of other military equipment is made by prison labor and the government pays pennies on the dollar for them.
Private companies are also profiting from prison labor. Many fast food restaurants use prison labor to package foods and a lot of big businesses utilize prison labor because it is cheap. While saving money is nice, it is not something that should happen at the expense of real humans. The masked racism and legalized slavery found within the PIC is not humane and is denying people basic human rights. Why is it that sweatshop labor is illegal and frowned upon by Americans, but the PIC is legal and not many people care about the prisoners and their working conditions. The conditions and pay in sweatshops are often better than the conditions and pay for prisoners working in the PIC.
The loophole in the 13th amendment allowed masked racism and legalized slavery. In turn, the Prison Industrial Complex is able to exploit this and make great profit on the labor of the incarcerated. The issues still exist today in our modern society. Real racism and stereotyping still happens today and it ruins lives. The loophole in the 13th amendment that allows for involuntary servitude needs to be changed. The masked racism within the PIC is able to happen because of the great profits made on the labor. Once there is no longer profit to be made on the incarcerated, there will no longer be motivation to target as many people non-violent crimes. Prison reforn needs to happen because non-violent crimes are not as big of a threat to society. Fixing the loophole in the 13th amendment will not fix the racism within our modern society, but it is a step in the right direction.
