Effects Of Slavery On African Americans

Many African Americans turned to selling drugs due to economic deprivation. Once, public perception changed, many employers moved companies out of inner cities. Factory jobs which required little education where no longer accessible to African Americans whom lived there. Comparatively, freed slaves were forced into the criminal justice system through economic exploitation. Deprived of an education, many freed slaves could not read or write, and as a result often signed working contracts with their employer that sold themselves back into slavery. Unable to write their own name, freed slaves simply marked an “X” which a witness signed next to acknowledging it was the freed slaves “X”. Freed slaves where then forced to buy their work uniform,
However, unable to keep track of their own accounts, many were given debt notices upon trying to leave their employers. They did not earn enough throughout the year to pay for their expenses. If they chose to leave without paying the debt, their boss could call the police and have them arrested and returned to their bosses own convict camp. Freed slaves where often told to plead guilty to the debt because they unknowingly had signed contracts acknowledging the debt. In exchange for pleading guilty and agreeing to pay their fine, convict camp owners would send them legal representation and allow them to work in their convict camps rather than on chain gangs. As a result, freed slaves would be required to perform the same work they had been performing now, for free. They where also unable to leave the premises and required to live in stockades with the other prisoners. They often experienced physical punishment such as beatings for failure to complete their work quota. The criminal justice system took advantage of the indigent African American in order to fill the American Prison
By defining African Americans as lazy, moochers, whom are dangerous drug seller who may or may not commit other crimes, they were able to alter public perception about African Americans. Rehabilitative prison structures where no longer needed, but new prisons built to protect society from African American prisoners where. The work force loss by the prohibition of slavery could be replaced by prisoners. This not only, made African Americans contributing members of society, but allowed those whom controlled prisons to control African Americans. This led to the exploitation of African Americans through crime legislation and the institutionalization of a new racial caste system. White officials were able to assert and maintain their dominant position on the social ladder above African Americans by incorporating characteristics of slavery (dehumanization, financial exploitation, and work) into the prison system. By incorporating these characteristics into the prison system, white Americans were able to deprive African Americans of rights and treat them as non-citizens. The emphasis on rehabilitation changed to punishment when prison became a tool to institute a racial social structure. Specifically, when work was no longer part of the