Title: 5 Ways The U.S. Prison Industrial Complex Mimics Slavery
Headings: 5 Ways America's Prison System Mimics Slavery
5 Ways America's Prison System Mimics Slavery
1. Incarcerated Individuals (Who Are Mostly People Of Color) Are Legally The Property Of The Government
2. Prisoners Are Leased To Private Companies For Mandatory Labor
3. Prisoners Work And Live In Inhumane Conditions
4. Prisoners Are Paid Next To Nothing While Corporations Profit Huge Amounts Off Of Their Labor
5. The System Dehumanizes Incarcerated Individuals

Content: Black people comprise 13 percent of the American population, yet they are six times more likely to be thrown behind bars than white people. They and Hispanics make up 58 percent of the prison population. This means that at any given time, a disproportionate number of people of color are forced into hard labor (many of whom have committed nonviolent drug-related crimes). An Atlantic documentary called Angola for Life: Rehabilitation and Reform Inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary shows footage of prison labor on what was once a Southern plantation. It may have been filmed recently, but as the film puts it, "the stench of slavery and racial oppression lingers." 2. Prisoners Are Leased To Private Companies For Mandatory Labor
John Moore/Getty Images News/Getty Images
As early as the start of the 19th century, states were leasing out imprisoned individuals "to private bidders to be housed and worked as slaves," as Harvard professor and Director of the Prison Studies Project Kaia Stern writes in her latest book, Voices From American Prisons: Faith, Education, and Healing . This labor was specifically used for production, and the same thing still happens today.