13th Amendment Research Paper

Under the 13th amendment, slavery is now illegal, unless of course you are a criminal. This loophole led to injustice, racism, more profits for corporations and more poverty.

Regarding justice, we have whites and minorities being treated differently in the court and with the police. For example, a white man in Florida can easily get away with murdering an innocent black teen because of the stand your ground law. Similarly, white rapists are treated differently from minority rapists. As an example, Brock Turner, a rapist was released from jail after 3 months. This would not be the case for minorities because they are labeled as “super-predators”.

In regard to racism, the government is basically setting a model where it is acceptable

to be a racist. Regarding current racism, this began when President Nixon’s team stated that the war on drugs was just a cover up to jail more minorities. Thereon, the government and media only showed minorities and spoke about them when they committed an act of violence. As a result, the rest of America began to picture colored people as beasts who can commit maniacal acts.
When it comes to corporate culture, there are many way that large corporations can exploit the thirteenth amendment. First of all, the constitution states that prisoners can be treated as slaves. This allows businesses like Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret to use free or low-cost labor to make their products and as a result gain larger profits. Second of all, there are programs like ALEC that are pushing bills through congress that would lengthen the time that prisoners have to serve. This allows for more slavery, but it also allows businesses that make products for prisoners to stay and business and increase their prices. For example, one business charges an insane amount to have a phone call between a prisoner and their loved ones.
Regarding poverty, once you are branded a criminal, many businesses and programs deny access to you. The amount of jobs you can work at is limited. This forces one to be low-level worker where most of the time you make minimum wage and there is no opportunity to move up the ladder. This creates a cycle of poverty because it then translates to the fact that you can afford to pay your child’s tuition costs, which then limits their job availability.
Together, once the 13th amendment marks you as a criminal, you are basically done. You are denied equal access to many things like a loan or a fair trial, because of racism or even the ability to be perceived equally.