13th Amendment  "STRIKE-OUT" proposal to eliminate the loophole for enslavement once and for all.

Did you know that there is language in the US Constitution 13th Amendment which still supports enslavement and involuntary servitude? 

US Constitution 13th Amendment 

Section 1 

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

One can interpret this to mean that both slavery and involuntary servitude are acceptable when a person has been convicted of a crime.  This does not prescribe the complete eradication of slavery as was promised.   This language clearly creates a loophole that echoes “we (people of color) are one conviction of away from re-enslavement”.

While many may laugh at what seemingly is a ridiculous statement, according to the rule of law in amendment 13, slavery is and has been permissible in the context of a conviction. There is much data that supports the historical precedence for this strategy. Shortly after the passing of the 13th amendment which did grant slaves freedom, white businessmen set out to utilize this loophole by convicting black people of simple crimes.  By facilitating the conviction of black men and women of minor crimes, it gave the legal right for businessmen along with the States support to re-enslave black people through 'convict leasing' a form of involuntary servitude.

This is a necessary change to address the policy that freed the slaves but legalized another form of oppression ‘Black Codes’.  These Black Codes made it quite easy for southern states to legalize arresting African Americans for minimal crimes for the purpose of involuntary servitude.

One may surmise that this exception clause was likely included as a congressional bargaining agreement that may have been used to obtain support for its passing; however, it is wholly iniquitous even when someone has been convicted.   Shame on America for allowing such oppressive language to exist in the highest laws of the land.   

Let us make America greater by removing the loophole that enabled modified slavery alternatives post-1865 like “convict leasing” which allowed white men to enslave so-called convicts for the purpose of farming their lands.  This led to countless unfair convictions that hurled black people back into the hands of the colonizing masters.   Evidence from a farm in Sugarland, Texas, suggests such practices existed until 1912 a full 47 years after the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation.  

The oppression continued even after 1912 with the continuation of the Black codes/Jim Crow in the south which denied blacks equal rights in southern states.  One can infer that this deplorable practice, motivated by the post-slavery greed and racism of wealthy whites, created the culture which rewards over-policing of black communities and the disproportionately high rates of detention, arrest, and conviction of black people.  When one considers the fact that black people makeup approximately 13% of the population of the United States but comprise 38% of the prison population, one cannot easily dismiss a correlation.

While confederate statues, flags, and paintings are being removed to rid the country of the stains of racism, we still have policies and laws that allow the social injustices to prevail in the legislative and judicial system. We must also address these policies now.  It is especially important that we call to the floor of the House an action to remove the loophole that enables modern-day slavery.   Please sign this petition now to remove this unacceptable clause from the US Constitution.      

Strike it out now!   

Support this petition to change the language to say: 

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction

 This gesture would once and for all remove a stain of slavery from the most Supreme Law of the United States (the US Constitution).  Even though this action, alone, does not remove the stain of slavery from the soul of America, it is an important step in the right direction.