Five states’ upcoming 2022 election ballots will include abolishing slavery to end prison labor.
In November, Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont residents will get a chance to remove slavery from their state laws. The announcement comes as a shock seeing as though most individuals believed slavery was already banned.
This is technically true due to the 13th amendment of the U.S. Constitution declaring that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
However, several states have found a way to use the amendment to their advantage. A part of the 13th amendment that allowed for slavery to still exist is “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted” clause.
The clause has allowed southern states to criminalize Blackness in ways that let them retain some degree of forced labor. The exception statement has contributed to mass incarceration in the U.S.
All five of the states have added to abolish the laws to their upcoming ballots. If passed, Tennessee and Vermont will add language to their constitutions clarifying that slavery or other forms of involuntary servitude are forbidden under all circumstances. However, Alabama will only remove “all racist language” from its constitution.
The states will be voting on the could-be significant change on November 8th.
