Recently there has been much argument over statues of historical figures that owned slaves or carried out other such injustice. People argue that honoring these figures is to condone or overlook their crimes, minimizing the gravity of what they did and the harm they caused. Of course, statues don’t have rights and there is no …
Imagine being imprisoned because you can’t pay $656 that you owe. That can happen today in Mississippi, where poor people who cannot afford court ordered fines, fees, and other payments are put into restitution center prisons where they are forced to work until they pay off their debt. The Marshall Project, a non-profit that investigates …
Mississippi Restitution Centers Are an Unwelcome Throwback to slavery Read More »
Michael Bloomberg, billionaire late entrant to the presidential race, was recently found using prison labor to make campaign calls. When this was discovered by The Intercept, Bloomberg said he was unaware and immediately stopped. What happened is that Bloomberg contracted with a New Jersey based call center service called ProCom. ProCom then used women incarcerated …
In The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea, Vannak Prum tells how he was taken from Cambodia and enslaved for years on a Thai fishing boat. His story shows how easily even today people can still be taken as slaves.
David Brooks, noted columnist for the NY Times, wrote a remarkable column today in which he calls himself a ‘slow convert’ to the cause of slavery reparations in the United States. You can read it here. Much has already been made of this ostensibly very liberal position coming from a well credentialled conservative commentator. Here’s …
Slavery Reparations- David Brooks Changing His Mind Read More »
In the recent midterm elections, Colorado’s vote to amend the state’s constitution was easily overlooked because of the extensive focus on the races for congress. But in addition to sending an extra Democratic representative to the House, Colorado voters also just passed a referendum to outlaw slavery in all circumstances. Before November 6th, Colorado’s …
Colorado Votes to Outlaw Slavery: No More Exceptions Read More »
Most people would rather not consume products that are produced by slave labor. Some people are also willing to spend a little extra money for that reassurance, and will choose to buy a product that’s a bit more expensive if it comes with certification that it was produced by employees who receive living wages, safe …
Consumer Activism No Substitute for Government Regulation Read More »
Unfortunately, this news report of a 15 year old girl drugged, raped, and sold for sex is nothing new. I want to highlight it, though, for a couple of reasons. First, while this girl was clearly trafficked there is no allegation that she was physically tied up or restrained. She was held by chains that …
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