What many Americans don’t know is that the U.S. still engages in legalized slavery.
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery “except as punishment for a crime,” creating a system that continues to exploit incarcerated people through forced labor, coercive working conditions, and the denial of basic human rights. That clause has shaped an entire system where incarcerated people can be forced to work for little or no pay in conditions that mirror the exploitation our country claims to have ended. This practice did not emerge accidentally. It grew directly from post–Civil War strategies designed to re-enslave Black people through convict leasing, racialized policing, and the expansion of prisons.
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is an opportunity to examine how these systems operate today. Prison labor remains a multibillion-dollar industry. People behind bars grow food they cannot eat, fight wildfires they will never be hired to fight, manufacture goods they cannot afford, and perform the labor that keeps state institutions running without basic protections. Refusal to work can lead to solitary confinement, loss of visitation, and the removal of essential supports. Calling this anything other than slavery obscures the truth.
Abolitionist movements have spent decades documenting how forced labor in prisons deepens racial and economic inequality. They remind us that ending slavery requires transforming the structures that rely on punishment, exploitation, and control. Real safety grows from access to housing, healthcare, education, disability support, and community care. When people have what they need, systems built on coercion lose their power.
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is not just about the past. It is a reminder that freedom remains an unfinished project.
Further Reading
“American Slavery, Reinvented” The Atlantic
“Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers” American Civil Liberties Union
“Prison Labor: Where ‘Dead-End’ Jobs Meet 21st Century Slavery” The Appeal
Marshall Project — Slavery tag & reporting The Marshall Project
Associated Press investigation — “Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands” AP News
“Captive Labor” series Inquest
The Sentencing Project The Sentencing Project
