Repost after repost, letter, and a reassuring email, they still haven’t posted all of my blogs. That’s what my family and friends told me this Fourth of July.
Speaking of the Fourth of July, while most Americans are celebrating with hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelons, and apple pies, they don’t realize that most of their food was provided from the backs of slaves.
There were 15 States of the Union in which slavery was legal before the Civil War. Today, there are 43 states and the federal government that slavery is legal and necessary. It took 159 years, after the War, that only 7 states got rid of slavery, but still punishes their people for not working.
The Thirteenth Amendment did not end slavery. All the Amendment did was change the rules on who can be slaves. If you are an inmate in prison, regardless of race, slavery is legal. Around 1.2 million inmates in the U.S. work for pennies an hour to no pay at all. These states and federal government lease out their inmates to cities and businesses who in turn pay them a good chuck of change to provide inmate labor. Most public and private prisons use inmates to support and maintain them while paying pennies an hour to no pay. The Government is the biggest beneficiary of prison slave labor according to the ACLU/UCLS. The inmates provide over $9 billion worth of prison support and maintenance. An AP News report in January 2024, showed that inmate labor is used to produce an enormous number of products found in most American kitchens. “… from Ball Park hot dogs to Coca-Cola…” The AP linked the supply chains of some of the world’s largest and best known companies like McDonalds, Burger King, Koch Foods, and Walmart (just to name a few) who has created multi-billion dollar empires on the backs of prison slavery that pays pennies per hour to no pay at all to the incarcerated. Plus, these states and businesses don’t have to pay Social Security, Medicare, income tax, and pensions, which undercuts jobs and wages for the working class.
In Arizona, the former Director of ADOCRR, told the State’s legislature that Arizona’s economy would collapse if it wasn’t for inmate labor, which pays their inmates $0.20 to $0.45 an hour.
Most states don’t grant clemency or parole because they need to maintain quotas. Cities and courts have to incarcerate so that prisons may continue profiting from inmate labor and supplying businesses with more slaves.
Is it justice that executives are lining their pockets with cash from this modernized slavery? Is it outrageous that private industries are making huge profits from the backs of inmates?
So, celebrate Independence Day, celebrate your freedom, and be grateful for minimum wage, because tomorrow prisons might need you!
From modern day plantations,
James Carlson, #073536
Contact Info:
Mr. James R. Carlson #073536
Central Arizona Correctional Facility
PO Box 9600 - PMB #173
Florence, AZ 85132
Email: https://www.securustech.net
Click the link above, then search for James Carlson in the state of Arizona. The facility on Securus is listed as AZ DOC Inmate Services
