The Part of History You've Always Skipped | Neoslavery on HackerTube: recommended by 4 Hacker News commenters across 4 separate months, 2022–2026.
documentary · evergreen
A long documentary-style video arguing that slavery in the US effectively continued through convict leasing and the prison system until around 1942. It covers the constitutional carveout and the history of neoslavery.
Recommended in threads on prison labor and American history as a thorough account of the post-Civil War period.
“presented a compelling case that US slavery truly ended in 1942”
11 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
YouTube's algorithm recently recommended me a video which presented a compelling case that US slavery truly ended in 1942. It included references to this book. Here's the link, for anyone curious: ▶ this video
in “The Negro Motorist Green Book” · View on HN
>classed as being marginally racist, usually they do not really mean the things they say. As someone that moved to a very very racist part of the US in their teens (near a sundown town), this is by far the most scary statement you could write. I believe you would be far more concerned if you understood the enormity of it when you look at it in the converse. This person you mention that creates an exception 'for one of the good ones' will also create an exception for their buddy when they lynch someone and they just forget to tell the police about it. I recommend 'Neoslavery' by Knowing Better as a little chunk of more recent American history a lot of people would like to erase. Racism runs very deep in some places. ▶ this video
in “Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you” · View on HN
There's no reason for scare quotes given the specific carveout for slavery which exists in the Constitution. If you have an issue with that verbiage, take it up with the 38th United States Congress and Abraham Lincoln. > do murderers get to walk free? You're arguing against an extreme position that nobody actually holds. Most reasonable people would probably point to criminal justice as implemented in many European countries as exemplifying a more humane model which produces better long term results. The carveout for the enslavement of incarcerated people also created a perverse incentive which played out predictably in the wake of Reconstruction's failure. If you're interested in the long and painful history of this fact here's a useful resource: ▶ this video
in “US Doesn't Care About Financial Crimes” · View on HN
Knowing Better on YouTube produced a really good documentary answering "when was the last slave freed?" [^1]. His argument is that it didn't end until 1942, a mere 80 years ago. A big part of the reason why was the prison system and legal system, which was structured around criminalizing blackness, and using this to fulfill an economic need. Articles like this make me think perhaps 1942 may be a bit optimistic, after all, we still rely heavily on prison labour without allowing incarcerated people to earn sufficient funds to support themselves after their rehabilitation, and we're still fighting the war on drugs that started under Nixon. That said, I'm not sure how non Americans feel about US politics being discussed here, since I rarely see news about domestic issues in other countries. [^1]: ▶ this video
in “US prison slaves produce $11B worth of goods and services” · View on HN
Modern loitering laws in small-town America, post-Civil-War, were typically originally intended to enslave the entire population of black men remaining in town, or otherwise drive them out. ▶ this video It took most of a century for the economy to really convert everything over to an hourly-pay model. This is not the only reason, but it is the dominant, proximate one that enshrined the practice. Places with less black-white racial animus were comfortable adopting animus for other minorities, or for the poor in general. Post-Civil-Rights, loitering laws (and a panoply of other practices ranging from swimming pools to mortgage approvals to cul-de-sacs) were exploited not to enslave, but principally to simply eject categories of people. For a take on the origins of the Anglo cultural tradition of persecuting the poor in general, this goes a lot further back - [link]
in “The Cost of Safetyism” · View on HN
Or 165 years ago when people tried to fight through separation, and arguably got most of what they wanted even after losing. ▶ this video
in “U.S. already has the critical minerals it needs, according to new analysis” · View on HN
>(And that's not even discussing penal slavery allowed under the 13th Amendment.) To expand on this, knowingbetter did an in-depth video on this topic[0]. The salient bit is that penal slavery was ended in 1941-1942 by Roosevelt, so that the Japanese couldn't use it as war propaganda against the US. [0] ▶ this video
in “Juneteenth in Photos” · View on HN
I believe one of the reasons why so many people get away with the black culture dog whistle is American history kinda ignores the entire period between the end of the civil war and the start of WWII. We learn some about the Jim Crow era, but it's kind of neglected that slavery didn't stop at all . If you say 'Slavery actually ended in WWII", I do believe most people would be surprised. And it reframes the argument from slavery ended a long time ago, to things were really still total shit until your (black) grandparents generation (and not much better till the civil rights movements after that). Neoslavery ▶ this video Now, turning this back to Russia, is seemingly Russia has always had the idea that it's outer population is a gigantic meat shield to protect Moscow. There are a number of authors and videos on this topic and I'm not going to link any particular ones. This said in the current war with Ukraine we see this in practice, as huge amount of the soldiers being used are not from the Moscow area, but the more minority areas farther away from the capital.
in “Who's Behind the Swat USA Reshipping Service?” · View on HN
This is such a piss poor take I am wondering if it's in bad faith? ▶ this video >The Part of History You've Always Skipped | Neoslavery 'Slavery' did not end at the end of the civil war. It continued on till WWII and in many ways was somehow even worse after the civil war.
in “Without Belief in a God, but Never Without Belief in a Devil” · View on HN
>the prejudice of the race appears to be stronger in the States which have abolished slavery, than in those where it still exists; Honestly I disagree with the statement, prejudice is still going strong in the south. The civil war did not end slavery. Slavery kept going on until WWII in the US when it became a little too embarrassing for us when the Axis countries where pointing that out. >Knowing Better - NeoSlavery - ▶ this video
in “Why Tocqueville Matters” · View on HN
I understand this desire but charity alone cannot (let alone the profit motive that would seep into any venture-backed effort) cannot solve a systemic problem. The roots of the modern US prison system go back to slavery economics [1]. The Lousianna State Penitentiary (known as "Angola") is quite literally a cotton-picking plantation. Poverty and the desire for forced (ie cheap) labor are the driving forces here. [1]: ▶ this video
in “Why Would Prisons Ban My Book? Absurdities Rule the System (2022)” · View on HN