That slavery was never actually fully abolished? 

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In the wording of the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution lies a loophole that would come to be known as the 'Exception Clause'. It states:

 

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for  crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

 

That loophole let the South rebuild slavery almost overnight. States passed "Black Codes" criminalizing things like homelessness or not carrying proof of employment, then leased the newly "convicted" — overwhelmingly Black Americans — to plantations and corporations as forced labor. It was profitable for everyone but the people doing the work.

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Convict leasing eventually officially ended, but the incentive to arrest and incarcerate marginalized populations at increasingly alarming rates never did. The War on Drugs, mandatory minimums, and three-strikes laws kept the same labor pool flowing through mass incarceration, and today that logic reaches immigration detention, as we watch our own government terrorize our communities and rip families apart based on directives boasting racism and fear-mongering.

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