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Monday, October 02, 2006

THE 13TH AMENDMENT CONDONING SLAVERY! and you thought it was over......


This a repost. I posted this a while back but I decided to add two more parts to this post. I want to explain the true importance of this Amendment and the threat that it poses to the Brown skinned community. Be sure to check back for part 2 & 3

THE HIDDEN DANGER OF THE 13TH AMENDMENT

M Amendment 13th

Section 1. 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.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
(Ratified December 6, 1865)


To many, the 13th Amendment is recognized as an act of liberation for blacks in America. Being passed to outlaw slavery in the period following the Civil War, which many consider a war fought to end slavery. The 13th Amendment has long been celebrated as a positive footnote in African American History. Few have paid enough attention to notice the negative aspects of the Amendment; Negative aspects which provide a loophole that could lead to the re-enslavement of Blacks in America. I’ll highlight the areas of concern as I overview the amendment. Neither Slavery, nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT AS A PUNISHMENT FOR CRIME WHERE OF THE PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN DULY CONVICTED, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. CONGRESS SHALL HAVE POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE BY APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION. I look at the part that states (Except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted) which basically means that slavery is legal as a means of punishment of convicted criminals. Now, many may perceive themselves to be safe from this law as a result of what they’ve come to associate with being a criminal and crime. This is where I take the time to enlighten those that do to the true definition of crime and criminal.

Crime – 1. Illegal act: an action prohibited by law or a failure to act as required by law, 2. Illegal activity: activity that involves breaking the law.

Criminal- 1. Someone acting illegally: someone who has committed a crime

Many have come to view the term crime as a representation of major criminal acts and the term misdemeanor as a separate entity representing minor offenses to the law, not recognizing the fact that any violation of the law is recognized as a crime and any person that violates the law can be deemed a criminal. My reason for concern with the 13th Amendment is the fact that it provides a legal loophole for slavery and is unspecific in its terms of what leaves an individual susceptible to the punishment that can be inflicted through its use within the judicial system. Now, Crime is a pretty general term that can be used to represent anything from J walking to bank robbery, Imagine being enslaved for loitering, littering, j-walking, disorderly conduct, or speeding; then imagine it being perfectly legal.
The reasons that I have for being concerned with this law and its danger to the black community are as follows: Racial profiling of African Americans, rising incarceration rates for African Americans, the rate in which blacks are being arrested and targeted by law enforcement officials, and the promotion of individuals from predominantly black poverty stricken neighborhoods as criminals. The statistical fact that an African American individual is five times more likely to be convicted than a Caucasian on trial for the same offense implies that we do have somewhat of an unfair judicial system. Having an amendment that states that an individual can be legally enslaved as a means of punishment for a violation of the law, with African Americans being dominant in arrest and convictions is something that I find extremely alarming. The tendency of people to be unsympathetic towards the punishment of criminals, creates an opportunity for this amendment to lead to the re-enslavement of African Americans, as people will view it as nothing more than a criminal being punished for a crime committed. Many fail to view court appointed community service as a form of slavery for the reason I just stated, when it is a modern form of slavery. The only difference between slavery through community service and the slavery that was experienced by Africans in the history books is that rather than picking cotton we’re cleaning city parks and scraping graffiti off of subway walls, but it’s still forced labor. Maybe my concerns are invalid, for the fact that if you don’t commit a crime your not susceptible to the amendment, but you take a look at what can be defined as a crime and tell me that in all cases slavery would be fair punishment. Now, I could be a conspiracy theorist, I could be just another black man trying to exempt myself of accountability of my actions, and maybe all this could just be paranoia, but to quote the basketball player Charles Barkley when he said “, I may be wrong, but I doubt it”


Digg!

© S.Folk

Now here’s the chance for you to voice your opinion. Is this justified paranoia or just another Black conspiracy theory? You be the judge, post comments below
Posting a comment not enough? Want to debate the issue? Do that @ Blackfolksrus

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

youre on some fuckin bullshit fam. They are not covering for SLAVERY. They are saying basically if someone is jailed, they are able to make the fuckers work without pay. If someone goes to jail, the state or federal pen can make the convicts clean up the highways or stamp license plates. quit trying to twist that shit up and give it a rest.

And lets be fucking serious here, if ANYONE was about to turn ANY person into a slave, in this day and age? DONT YOU THINK THE FREE WORLD WOULD THROW A FUCKING FIT?!

Cmon get intelligent and quit trying to spread bullshit around, because all youre saying is just that. Bullshit.

Anonymous said...

I clearly see that this brother who last commemted is the one who is truly on some bullshit as he confidently stated out of ignorance of the history of this beloved country that we call Amerikkka.The land of the free right?Sometimes we get so brainwashed about how unrealistcally far we've so-called have come as a race in this country that we supress the things that has happened in the past to the present day.So a message to my fantasy world Amerikkka loving brother.Wake tha fuck up man!Ceelo of the Goodie Mo-B once stated that if we don't get prepared people it's gon' be a slaughter.Don't let it start with you fam.Stay peace.-Will(www.myspace.com/lyricassassin

Anonymous said...

you are correct. the 13th amendment was used to condone slavery. infact, slavery was legal in the south until WW2 and southerners continued to hold slaves until the war.

to the first commenter- you should consider reading Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon and brushing up on your history. There is plenty of historical evidence on this matter... just because the free world did not/does not " THROW A FUCKING FIT?!" doesn't mean something isn't true. I suggest you find another litmus test to determine what is true.

Anonymous said...

the gentilman that posted this article is 100% correct! it is not a conspiracy theroy, it is fact! that loophole gave the salve states an avenue to return to slavery as it was pre civil war. that did not happen, but through the criminal justice system the states of the south would have thier slaves again. the black codes, pig codes and the jim crow laws made it all happen. from 1865 to the present the amount of blacks vs. whites in jail is heavaly in favor of blacks.
some of the copanines that employ prison labor: ibm, victoria secret, hewllet pacard,mc donald's some aircraft manufacturers,falpjackets night goggles parts for fighter jets fase teeth eye glasses and many other things are made by prisoners for a mere pitace while the corporations are making millions of dollars! sirs, if that is not slavery then ido not know what it is!



ControlLeD ChAoS said...

How great to find someone else who caught that clause too!! I am presently writing a thesis paper on that exact subject, and I haven't found any scholarly material yet indicating that others have wised up to this sneaky insurance policy that simply renames slavery instead of getting rid of it! I have found articles about the huge increase in demand for prison labor during the Civil War, and the use of prisoners was a thriving business allowing them to contract inmates out and inmates made products regularly sold on the open market. As the economy fluctuates, the prisons were not allowed to sell products that would interfere with jobs for those people who aren't incarcerated, but they're used to work in various jobs that are undesirable to the general public. Excellent piece of writing, God bless you and many thanks to you for the renewal of my confidence that I'm not crazy and others saw/understand the truth of this amendment!!!

Unknown said...

You should study before submitting an answer. The article is spot on! From yor answer I would be willing to bet that you are NOT African-American which means yours or your family/friends experience with the so-called "U.S. justice" system is wholly different than ours which is what influences your response

Anonymous said...

i understand what you are saying, but you need to think about the fact that this law does not specify that only African American criminals may be enslaved. White criminals can be enslaved, too. Also, community service is not a form of slavery, nor is it forced. You have an option: go to jail OR do community service. If you would rather go to jail for a crime or misdemeanor, then so be it. If you have to do community service, then wise choice. Maybe it would be wiser to be a law abiding citizen. I also understand looking at the history of our country. It is fascinating and will make you wiser, but sooner or later we have to move past parts of it. Slavery is over and African Americans are free. There is not a living soul in America that has been able to talk to someone who was enslaved in America. That is something to rejoice about. Also, to the person commenting and making jokes about "Amerikka". Look up Abraham's complete plan. If you look, the man who helped free slave also wanted to send them back to Africa or to Central America. So be glad you are an American. You can try to argue that at least if African Americans were sent back to Africa they would be returning home. Too bad this is false. African kingdoms were the ones selling slaves. The kingdoms would sell their own people in order to acquire goods that were appealing to them. Whites did not go in and steal blacks. Blacks were selling/trading blacks for goods. This had been happening for a thousand years or so prior. One other thing to point out, when the civil war ended and the 13th amendment came about, slavery was more popular in Africa (black slaves with black owners) than in both Americas combined. I'm tired of "white" people being made out to be evil. I'm not posting this as someone who is racist or thinks whites are superior. I am posting this as someone who feels we are all equal as Americans.

Neil V said...

I usually don't blog, but sometimes it is necessary to respond to incorrect information when I see it. The Anonymous comment above this one posted at 4:18pm speaks like someone that heard passingly that Africans sold their own people. He has probably never read one book on African history. He speaks in all ambiguity and generalizations. He failed to mention one pre-colonial state, nation, empire, or any other polity that "sold their own people." Why? Because until I posted this, and he subsequently researched this to prove me wrong, he probably does not know of any. For example, the Edo and the Fon in the Benin and Dahomey Kingdoms respectively outlawed slavery in their kingdoms as far back as the 1500s and 1700s. The Bakongo people of the Kongo did not have a system of slavery the way that we know it. That is why when the avaricious Portuguese came in contact with the Bakongo they had no slaves to offer them, so attempted to sell their enemies, the Mbundu, to the south. The Igbo people did not have a stratified society and did not practice slavery either. I can go on like this, but I'm not.

Many of those that were sold into slavery in Africa came as a result of being prisoners of war. When Europeans mostly executed or imprisoned their prisoners of war, the Africans sold theirs. Then there were those stronger, more dominant states, that conquered and sold into slavery the excess of the weaker and more decentralized states in the region.

Europeans arrived in Africa and enticed particular groups with guns and other goods in exchange for captives. You can imagine how this also contributed to and exacerbated conflicts in Africa by a minority of states.

I don't want to give you all the answers, Mr. Anonymous, but I think you should research Black Codes, convict leasing, and the War on Drugs and the Prison Industrial Complex in this country. This country comprises of 5 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prison population. This country imprisons more of its population than any other country in the entire world, including all of its "evil" enemies. The crime rate in this country has gone down, but the prison population has gone up. In 1970, there were only 200,000 people in prison in this country, now there is 2,300,000. There are corporations that lobby Congress for longer and harsher sentencing of prisoners for non-violent drug offenses, for the purpose leasing cheap labor to construct things in this country that the corporations don't want to pay minimum wage to do. If you think these are mere coincidences and everyone just has to obey the law, I will feel sorry when you didn't speak out against the system and this beast that continues to expand finally swallows up you or your progeny.