ABA Journal - Law News Now

Civil Rights

Slavery By Another Name: Blacks Were Jailed as Forced Labor into 1940s

Posted Jul 23, 2008, 12:39 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

Slavery officially ended in 1865. But it effectively continued until after World War II in some southern states, in which African-American men were routinely tried and convicted on petty charges and sentenced to work off the fines others paid on their behalf, according to a new book.

Written by Douglas Blackmon, the Atlanta bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, Slavery By Another Name documents this systemic abuse:

"Under laws enacted specifically to intimidate blacks, tens of thousands of African Americans were arbitrarily arrested, hit with outrageous fines, and charged for the costs of their own arrests," the publisher, Random House, Inc., reports on its website. "With no means to pay these ostensible 'debts,' prisoners were sold as… Continue reading...

• Comments: 3
• E-mail / Share
• Permalink
• Print