Today is June 19, or Juneteenth. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863, slaves in Texas didn’t find out slavery was over until June 19, 1865, hence commemorating this date as the end of legal slavery in the US.
As Phillipe Copeland points out, the prison system was quickly positioned to take the place of slavery through the 13th amendment:
“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.” (emphasis mine)
If the architects of the 13th Amendment really wanted to abolish slavery, why make an exception for criminal convictions? Given that slavery at that time was associated in the American imagination with being black, it’s fair to believe its authors had black people in mind when they included this language in the amendment.
This has led to a disturbingly racist reality. While slavery is officially over, our prison system is set up to limit the life possibilities and the take the labor of Black people, people of color more generally, and intersecting groups of marginalized folks. Read More
Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet
Mia McKenzie’s post about 8 ways not to be an ally is the must read article of the week. I’ve been thinking and writing notes about this topic a lot lately, and will probably post something about it myself, but Mia nailed a number of the issues that have been on my mind.
Do Something has launched a petition against the sexual assault how-to Kickstarter that we posted about earlier today.
Ugh. Serena Williams has issued a standard non-apology for the awful things she “supposedly said” (her words) about Steubenville in a recent interview.
Rep. Phil Gingrey thinks it’s important to teach young school children gender stereotypes. Like, “what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better” than what moms as a group supposedly do.
Ecstatic American Indians praise The Lone Ranger. (The Onion)