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This is the part of "Black History" that most of us were never told about. - Chuck Allen

In 1866, one year after the 13 Amendment was ratified (the amendment that ended slavery), Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor (peonage). This made the business of arresting Blacks very lucrative, which is why hundreds of White men were hired by these states as police officers. Their primary responsibility was to search out and arrest Blacks who were in violation of Black Codes. Once arrested, these men, women and children would be leased to plantations where they would harvest cotton, tobacco, sugar cane. Or they would be leased to work at coal mines, or railroad companies. The owners of these businesses would pay the state for every prisoner who worked for them; prison labor.

It is believed that after the passing of the 13th Amendment, more than 800,000 Blacks were part of the system of peonage, or re-enslavement through the prison system. Peonage didn’t end until after World War II began, around 1940.

This is how it happened.

The 13th Amendment declared that "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." (Ratified in 1865)

Did you catch that? It says, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude could occur except as a punishment for a crime". Lawmakers used this phrase to make petty offenses crimes. When Blacks were found guilty of committing these crimes, they were imprisoned and then leased out to the same businesses that lost slaves after the passing of the 13th Amendment. This system of convict labor is called peonage.

The majority of White Southern farmers and business owners hated the 13th Amendment because it took away slave labor. As a way to appease them, the federal government turned a blind eye when southern states used this clause in the 13th Amendment to establish laws called Black Codes. Here are some examples of Black Codes:

In Louisiana, it was illegal for a Black man to preach to Black congregations without special permission in writing from the president of the police. If caught, he could be arrested and fined. If he could not pay the fines, which were unbelievably high, he would be forced to work for an individual, or go to jail or prison where he would work until his debt was paid off.

If a Black person did not have a job, he or she could be arrested and imprisoned on the charge of vagrancy or loitering.

This next Black Code will make you cringe. In South Carolina, if the parent of a Black child was considered vagrant, the judicial system allowed the police and/or other government agencies to “apprentice” the child to an "employer". Males could be held until the age of 21, and females could be held until they were 18. Their owner had the legal right to inflict punishment on the child for disobedience, and to recapture them if they ran away.

This (peonage) is an example of systemic racism - Racism established and perpetuated by government systems. Slavery was made legal by the U.S. Government. Segregation, Black Codes, Jim Crow and peonage were all made legal by the government, and upheld by the judicial system. These acts of racism were built into the system, which is where the term “Systemic Racism” is derived.

barjoe 9 Apr 26
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12 comments

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2

There is so much history just waiting to be taught. Totally eschewed. Tipping was invented as an economically manner in which to exploit newly freed citizens of African descent. The proprietor of an establishment would pay a pittance, would procure service for their patrons, & it was up to the customer to tip the server. Many of the massive group of emancipated were untrained, uneducated, & unemployed Americans, who went west to become the first cowboys. Some remained exploited as share croppers who barely survived. An even smaller group returned to Mother Africa. The history is one of heartbreak & crushing oppression. Reconstruction was an abject failure. Correction history is now at the forefront of America's discussion. We must make amends to our African citizens & to Mother Africa. How we do this is where the disagreements occur. Take a lesson from my home town. [aol.com]

I've heard this story before. Tipping has become customary. The history is interesting. Americans shouldn't use it as a excuse not to tip. Until they change the way things are done, I will continue to tip people well. Let's not be like Mr Pink.

@Mooolah
read the article. It's about time - tooo looong past its due date. Injustices like this should've never taken place in the first place.

1

I live in Ga. One of my friends owns a construction business and works all over the state. He told me a story a few years ago that made my blood boil. He had hired a couple of black men to work for him through some local white people. He worked them for a few days and then went to pay them a fair wage. The people that got him their labor then got mad at him. I think he was gonna pay them like $200. They told him to keep his money and to only pay the blacks $40. They got mad at him because they didn’t want him to mess up the black person and for him to start thinking he was worth more money than what they were paying him. Very sad and it still goes on today

That's fine with poor white workers as well. It's a class struggle. They will pay you as little as they can.

@abyers1970
...sad that it still continues to this day - keeping human beings as "prisoners in shackles" for a pittance.

@abyers1970
oppression, suppression and prejudice to the endth degree. I don't suppose there's enough laws there to put an end to this? I say if you can't pay a decent wage for help, then do it yourself!

1

People in the western world have know this for a long time. I went to school in Sweden and we were taught it there.

3

Nobody will tell you, must do your own digging. Started with the sacrosanct founding fathers who were slave owners and there's where it all started and never stopped even until today.

I live in the South. We were taught growing up that slavery was not that bad and it was ordained by god and we were actually doing them a favor. Never heard of the horrors of it and slavery was like it was in Gone with the wind. We were taught that blacks were a different breed than whites and didn’t have a soul.
Mluckily I never bought into that and when I did my own research I found out how despicable it was

@abyers1970 good for you!

@abyers1970
The narrow-minded from the south there are the same descendants from Africa maybe 56 000 - 70 000yrs ago, who just went through a washing machine ie climate, diet, repopulation etc the same as the Greeks, Indians and the rest.

5

And people wonder why black lives matter. It has always been about covering up the same old racism and the bible said it was OK.

4

This is interesting to me because I thought this was common knowledge. Knowing that many aren't aware of the history is, well, good to know! Knowledge truly is power

5

So much of USA history that is totally hidden because of our shame in how this country was founded and expanded right up to today.

@jlynn37.
The truth has a way of surfacing. It's only swept under the carpet for so long.

4

Wow! Thank you for sharing this information.
Knowledge is empowering

Unity Level 7 Apr 26, 2021
4

@kinem What exactly do you find amusing about this?

I was wondering the same thing, thank you for inquiring. 😉

4

For a native southerner, this is not news

I only lived on the Al-Ga border in my very late teens for a few years in the 60's & it took about 10 minutes to notice this kind of thing (as a totally unwoke person!)...still going on big-time!

9

Yep. And it still hasn't ended.

6

I was lucky to have a very good history teacher who explained all of this. But, it's been a long time since high school, so thanks for the refresher course.

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