Today we celebrate Juneteenth, the day when word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the farthest outpost in America. Many people do not realize that Emancipation did not legally end slavery in the United States, however. Some historians have described this convict leasing system as “worse than slavery,” because there was no incentive to avoid working those people to death. In fact, federal agencies are mandated to purchase goods from federal prisons, just as state or municipal agencies, including public schools and universities, often must consider sourcing from state penitentiaries. Labor that people have no meaningful right to refuse and that is enforced under conditions of total control is, unquestionably, slavery.

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Persons: ” Organizations: Labor Locations: America, United States, Xinjiang, Washington