Sometimes in life...
Sometimes in life you just need to confront the truth head on and that is what we’re doing in today’s Dash. So those of you who might be looking for information on the upcoming Family Traditions contest check back tomorrow or later in the week. I am working through the details and it will be coming soon.
For now though; you’re going to get the truth on why black lives matter to whom and most importantly; why.
The problems we...
The problems we are seeing today are a direct result of our past here in this country. We can’t go back and change the history, but we need to fill in parts that have been left out of the history that is taught in our education system.
If more us knew what really happened in the past we could have ended this BLM stuff years ago; not before it started but before it got the #blacklivesmatter hash tag.
Slavery was and...
Slavery was and is an ongoing problem here in the United States.
History tells us that slavery ended in the civil war era with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. That is what we were taught right? Sure it was and it was all a big lie. The 13th Amendment did free the existing slaves at the time and it outlawed slavery I’ll agree with that; but I’m going to put on my Paul Harvey hat and do my best impersonation of him while I give you, “the rest of the story”.
From the inception...
From the inception of the 13th Amendment right on up to the present day the ‘body’ has remained the same but the name changed from “slave” to “criminal”.
The amendment has a clause in it that enabled this change to take place, “Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime,…”.
Right after the passage of the amendment all sorts of “codes “started being adopted and they were target at the blacks.
Loitering & vagrancy were two of the most easily enforced and once convicted of the crime they were incarcerated. From there they were then worked as “criminals” doing the same work they had done as slaves. More often than not, for their previous owner who had contracted their services from the local sheriff.
On the surface...
On the surface the 13th amendment gave the appearance of “freedom” but the reality was that a new tool was created to keep them enslaved albeit with a new owner; the government.
Sure there were some “freedmen” that escaped the ‘criminal’ convictions and managed to stay out of the system.
The now government “prisoner labor” was a cash cow for the local governments. Now do you see why I said in the title “It’s a money thing.”?
Black men were...
Black men were the labor force of the plantations both before and after the civil war the only thing that changed was ownership and housing and feeding of the prisoner / workers. Those black lives mattered because they were the backbone of the labor system in the south.
The prisoners were contracted out to do assembly work and sewing as well to certain businesses. Some work was off the prison property and some inside the prison.
We actually have an old small dresser that was built by inmates of the Texas Prison System in Huntsville, Texas. Not sure exactly when it was made because it had belonged to Daisy’s great aunt and was passed down to Daisy. But it still has the original label on the back of it telling where it was made.
So, black lives have mattered financially for a very long time. Two hundred forty six years of slavery and private ownership essentially was ended and the government took over running the slave trade after that. It hasn’t changed much since then either except that the numbers have grown significantly.
In 1970 there...
In 1970 there were 350,000 people incarcerated in the USA in some level of a prison system. That number in 2019 has grown to over 2.3 million. The USA has about 5% of the world’s population but we have over 25% of all the folks who are caged up in the world; doesn’t that raise some eyebrows? Isn’t this the “land of free”?
Blacks had about all they could take of this and started a push in the late ‘50’s and ‘60’s for civil rights and rightly so. They had gotten their “freedom” nearly 90 years before then but were still being treated as slaves just using a different name; criminal.
We had a founding document known as the Declaration of Independence that said, “All men are created equal…” but we had black schools, businesses that refused to serve blacks and let’s not forget that blacks had to ride at the back of the public buses too. Even public water drinking fountains were “white only” or “black only”.
Over the 50 years...
Over the 50 years from 1970 until now a lot has changed or so we think. One thing that hasn’t changed is the mentality of the criminal justice system. Blacks had always been targeted with crimes in order to keep the prison labor force filled.
So in order to keep up with demand our legislators kept coming up with new laws and stiffer penalties. Drug charges are a favorite with law enforcement and without the personal financial resources to defend themselves against criminal charges a lot of folks end up taking a “plea bargain”.
Essentially admitting to a crime with a lesser amount of jail time rather than take a chance at doing 15, 20 or more years behind bars if found guilty of the “original charges”.
There are so...
There are so many innocent people in prisons in this country right now it is sickening to even think of. Sure, our system of “justice” will give you an attorney if you can’t afford to hire one on your own dime. That attorney is going to tell you, “you really need to take the plea bargain”.
He sure as hell isn’t going to aggressively fight to defend you since he is being paid by the same folks who want to lock you up and get some free labor from you for the 3 to 7 years.
Another big change...
Another big change in the system is the privatization of the prisons.
Governments as a whole are not run well when it comes to delivering any type of service. Not only are they mismanaged but they don’t pay that well so they don’t attract the most talented workers.
So there have been plenty of governments that have elected to “contract out” services they are required to provide. The prisons were some of the first to go down the road of privatization.
One of the big private prison companies is Corrections Corporation of America. Contracts with these private companies will contain clauses that guarantee them a certain level of inmates to manage at each prison.
So the courts and prosecutors know they have to keep the “pipeline full” of new inmates to make sure that CCA and the other companies managing the inmates are earning their money.
You can bet...
You can bet your last dime that the cops on the street know that they need to keep arresting folks left and right regardless of how little evidence they have that would lead to a conviction by a jury.
Now you can see how important the stiff prison sentences play in the plea bargain scam. They don’t need evidence they just need bodies that can be charged and then bargain for prisoners.
Today it really doesn’t matter about color; Black, Latino, White Trash and every other lower economic class of person is fair game when it comes to getting arrested, but blacks have been the easy target for eternity here in the USA it seems.
Plus we need to remember the “three strikes” and life sentence. A person with three felony convictions gets life in prison.
The group known...
The group known today as “Black Lives Matter” has their own meaning of the saying and I can’t disagree that they aren’t correct.
History has shown us that even though the government didn’t coin the term they have always known that black lives matter; it has always been about the money.
Now you know the rest of the story, it’s all about the money.
Until next time,
Sult
Photo credits: Sult N Papper
There, right there, is the most straight up piece I've read about the entire matter. Thank you!
I consider the 'Jim Crow' era in the US to be every bit as heinous as slavery. Simply because those laws were passed in direct violation of an amendment to the US Constitution that was duly ratified.
It's all about the money or follow the money. Again.
I really don't have much to add, you really covered the subject. Thanks again.
Man Tom I hate to disagree with you after you gave this Dash such a glowing review, but I will. Well then again, I won't. So damn "wishy washy" I am this morning.
What I will say is that while you see the Jim Crow era as, "to be every bit as heinous as slavery." I see it as far worse than slavery and more heinous, and I'll explain why.
Up until the 13th Amendment slavery was "common practice" and people need to realize that the original slaves on this continent predate the the arrival of the twenty original black slaves that arrived in Jamestown in 1619. The "off scours" of Europe (white people) were sent here by the Crown to rid their homeland of their "less than desirable" members of society as slaves in the 1500's. (That is another part of history that isn't taught in the public education system or at least wasn't taught to me when I was in school.)
Now I'll get to my reasoning before I get sidetracked.
Passing those so call Jim Crow "laws" was in direct conflict with the Constitution at that point in time and should or could have been considered as a treasonous act. Treason carries the death penalty and back in the day death by hanging was the preferred method of execution of the death penalty. The only people being hanged were black folks and those were "mob lynchings". I am sure you can remember as well as I the reports of these lynchings even in the late 50's and early 60's.
Black men were portrayed by government officials as vicious barbaric animals and a threat to white women as rapists. (Instill fear in the people). Looking at a white woman in an admiring way could get a black man strung up from a tree and did.
I believe in the "law of the land"(common law) and slavery was accepted up until the 13th amendment, but it should have stopped at that point in time. Changing the name and rigging the game to continue on with the practice is far more heinous in my book once it was no longer acceptable practice.
So that is why I believe it to be far worse in my eyes.
I truly appreciate your point of view; I just see it as more severe. Thank you for all the support.
Sult
Well ok then. I agree with you absolutely. I wishwashed a bit so as to not detract from your post with my ranting.
I enjoy your ranting because it always makes sense, don't ever worry about detracting. Chances are there is only going to be a few people at most who would ever see it. We are talking about the "Dash" ya' know.
Thanx!
This is definitely a bitter dose of truth. Once someone is in the system it's very difficult to get out of it..especially in the case of felony convictions. I was raised in the inner city and quite a few of the guys I grew up with have spent most of their adult lives cycling in and out of prison. Sometimes all that first felony takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time and in the inner city there's plenty of opportunities for that. Great post Sult. This is one of the better ones I've read from you.
Thanks Eric. One important thing to keep in mind that I didn't mention is the loss of rights that goes along with the felony convictions. Convicts are stripped of their right to vote, so then they can't even have a "voice" in the form of electing their representatives in government. Not that any of the representatives are worth a guzbuck to begin with, just another penalty though. They also can't legally posses a gun, so if they are caught with one that is more prison time. The list goes on... but you get the picture.
Thanks for all the support.
Sult
You’re welcome. Oh yes, felons become second class citizens. I don’t believe they can get passports either, ever. Employment opportunities are almost nonexistent too. All of that makes it more likely for them to reoffend, I believe, by design to feed that system of free labor that you mentioned.