Between 1990 and 1999, 245 prisons were built in rural communities across the United States. That’s one new prison opening every 15 days. President Trump aims to restart this prison boom and with it, establish modern-day plantations.
In 1606, King James I began promising 50 acres of land to any man willing to relocate to America. British colonizers created the original plantations that were soon dependent on slave labor. Like King James I, Trump has promised benefits, like employment and debt forgiveness, to assist with his modern prison-to-plantation pipeline.
Trump’s administration continues to push legislation that criminalizes Black and Brown people. The 13th Amendment legalized the use of incarcerated people as enslaved labor. With prisons being built in predominantly rural red states, Trump aims to recreate a modern slavery economy with detention centers instead of plantation fields.
Trump’s “overseers” are already in place. It’s common for white officers working these rural prison facilities to be affiliated with white supremacist groups, displaying Confederate flags, or having small nooses on their keychains.
Our enslaved ancestors rebelled by running away, finding loopholes in laws, planning uprisings, and burning down plantations. Let’s be proactive and use their tactics of revolution NOW. Just like our ancestors, we have the tools, power, knowledge, and community to resist Amerikkka’s plans for modern-day slavery.