My research question is How is the US prison system a modern day institution of slavery? This topic interests me because people inside my family have been in prison as well people I know outside my family. I have seen their trauma and struggles. Some family members have served short term prison sentences. Some family connections are serving long term prison sentences. I notice they are on edge and distrustful. I believe more people should know and understand how prisons profit off of those who are incarcerated on a daily basis. I already know that the government and various businesses benefit from institutions of incarceration such as the US prison system. The US prison system is an industry that manipulates their inmates for capital, and because of the financial incentive there has been a growth of mass incarceration resulting in a population of around 1.6 million detainees. I plan to explore and find out more about prison labor and its impact on inmates, the loopholes in the 13th amendment which allow for this ownership of inmates, and the prejudice against minorities and women who face racism and sexual assault.
A Poet and Ex-Con Writes About Life After Prison
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/books/review/felon-poems-reginald-dwayne-betts.html
Who in your family wen’t to prison or frend, tell in more details you don’t have to give name. It shows your connection to the topic. Probably should label the link to the article.
Definitely include what it is like to be in prison now, could use rikers island as an example. I can only imagine what its’ like to be sentenced time from a judge and having to stay in a box for however long. I like how you are trying to show the corruptions in the jail system by mentioning that the jails profit off of each inmate. A big idea you can focus on too is if prisoners who have been locked up for a long amount of time, have them been treated and kept up to date with modern ways. A large number feel institutionalized which is a big problem, a term given to an inmate who completely devoted their life to being in prison and are unable to start a new life when their sentences are over.
YOU Need to turn this topic “prison industrial complex” into a REsearch Question. YOu need to narrow it down. We worked on this class. If you don’t remember look at the video I posted in Announcements.
How are prison systems different in Europ and America?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/opinion/abolition-prison-labor-amendement.html
ABOVE LOOKS GOOD!
Is the US Prison System a modern day institution of slavery?
Loomis, Erik. “Prison Shouldn’t Mean Slavery.” New York Times, 31 Aug. 2018, p. A25(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A552363771/OVIC?u=cuny_nytc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=e7db603a. Accessed 15 Mar. 2023.
“Inmates across the U.S. are staging a prison strike over ‘modern-day slavery’.” Washingtonpost.com, 21 Aug. 2018. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A551145034/OVIC?u=cuny_nytc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=92b98249. Accessed 15 Mar. 2023.
Levister, Chris. “Prison Labor Is State-Funded Slavery.” Slavery Today, edited by Auriana Ojeda, Greenhaven Press, 2004. At Issue. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010263226/OVIC?u=cuny_nytc&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=5b2fa022. Accessed 15 Mar. 2023. Originally published as “A Sweatshop Behind Bars,” WireTap, 2006.
Opinion | New Constitutional Amendments: We the People Have a Few Ideas – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Prison Labor and the Thirteenth Amendment (eji.org)
Using your RQ: How is the US prison system a modern day institution of slavery — which is good, I found a few more possible articles for you. These come from reliable sources. Read through these, I believe they are all feature or news pieces.
https://innocenceproject.org/13th-amendment-slavery-prison-labor-angola-louisiana/
https://innocenceproject.org/13th-amendment-slavery-prison-labor-angola-louisiana/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/27/slavery-loophole-unpaid-labor-in-prisons
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/22/us/prison-labor-slavery-ballot-measures.html
Here is an op-ed, we found this one together in the Computer Lab.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/opinion/abolition-prison-labor-amendement.html
Remember your 3rd source is a non-print. Here is an EXCELLENT documentary: the 13th by filmmaker Ava DuVernay. If you have netflix this would be great as your 3rd source.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80091741
Wow — someone uploaded it free to Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8
I am going to watch this myself. You have chosen a very important topic and your RQ is good. In fact now there are news articles reporting that in some states, this issue about the 13th Amendment is on the voting ballots! So your topic is current; it’s in the news now. I am excited to see what you do with this research project, Gilbert!
And here is an NPR review of the documentary. https://www.npr.org/2016/12/17/505996792/documentary-13th-argues-mass-incarceration-is-an-extension-of-slavery