"San Jose prides itself on progressivism, innovation, inclusion and justice for all. Yet, behind this image lies a quieter contradiction: our continued investment in a carceral system built on the same forced labor that the 13th Amendment never truly abolished. When voters rejected Proposition 6, which would have ended prison labor in California, we upheld that legacy. Our jails and prisons remain sites of human bondage disguised as rehabilitation."
"After the Civil War, Black men were criminalized to replace enslaved labor, a cycle confirmed by new research from the University of Gothenburg. Black people simply walked off the plantation and into a jail cell, a chain gang and prison work camp. Slavery never ended in America; it was only transformed by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery unless someone is convicted of a crime."
San Jose projects progressivism, innovation, inclusion and justice while continuing to invest in a carceral system sustained by forced prison labor. Voter rejection of Proposition 6 preserved a legacy of coerced labor behind bars and maintained jails and prisons as sites of disguised human bondage. Post‑Civil War criminalization replaced enslaved labor with incarceration, a pattern corroborated by University of Gothenburg research. Local policies in schools and courts funnel Black children toward incarceration, perpetuating a school‑to‑prison pipeline. The 13th Amendment’s exception transformed slavery into penal labor, and individual stories like Ray Goins illustrate systemic failures and lost opportunities for rehabilitation.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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