To be buck naked is to be free, or so we've been taught. But the reality is that the term initially meant anything but freedom, particularly for Black men.
Under enslavement, “buck” was a racial epithet used against young Black and Indigenous men. When men were being sold, they were stripped naked, so enslavers could inspect them. The most muscular men were assumed to be capable of producing the strongest offspring. Black men were treated like breeding animals.
Once sold, enslaved Black men were stripped again, this time of their dignity and rights. Their bodies were placed at the disposal of their enslavers. Little changed after the abolition of slavery.
Although the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, it allowed for “involuntary servitude” of incarcerated people. Jim Crow laws made minor infractions easier to charge and imprison Black men. Today, nearly 40% of incarcerated people in United States prisons are Black. Incarcerated Black men are punished for refusing to work, even under dangerous or unjust conditions, but when they do work, they don't earn enough to buy necessities.
Black men's bodies continue to be exploited for free labor. No matter how you spin “buck naked” now, it's still tied to the exploitation of Black men's bodies, labor, and the deprivation of liberty. That needs to change.